Americana short story songs. Hard living and a soft light painting of the American landscape.

All This Useless Beauty

A song about the long downside of a good time.

Lyrics:
I walked down to the Pinegrove bar
I walked down to the Pinegrove bar
I hear the sound of laughter
And the threat of a good time
I walked past it
Then, I decided to go in
You always make me bend to your will
That finite skill
I've been away from you too long (2X)
I could drink every drop of you (2X)

I know you're sitting here
You're watching my wheels fall off
Looking like a Hanna-Barbera cartoon
Right here, in this very saloon!
Watching the wheels fall off
I don't know how to stop
I could drink every drop of you

Sometimes, I fall down
I fall down on the ground 
But, I'm enjoying the view
I'm a fuck up Baby
Every, every drop of you
We're all just playing dress up at this bar
I am ready to revise my part
I'm drinking
Until I drop
Every drop of booze

Every Drop

Rough and ready lo-fi troubadour blues. More off-key and forlorn than usual.

Lyrics:
Oh, that bartender
He moved to his own
Sweet slow ass time
In getting back those drinks 
To feed my mainline
You asked me about my guitar
I've been far
But tonight
I am playing this bar

I could be gone soon
Maybe I could explain it to you
a little later
In my motel room?
There's a Gideon Bible
Right there in the drawer 
It's revelation about our sin
They're always gonna try to change ya
I think you're forgiven
You're  just
Welcoming a stranger

I've been far
But tonight, I am
I am playing this bar

All this joyful noise
I sing it for you
All the loneliness
And the  cacophony, too
It's my troubadour blues

My melancholy
The useless beauty
I feel like I'm  living life in another man's shoes
You asked me about my guitar
I've been far
But tonight, I am
I am playing this bar...

All This Useless Beauty (Troubadour Blues)

A regretful song about not seeing a friend  in need.
Fake Leonard Cohen in a higher register

Lyrics:
Sara, I never knew
How this world was killing you
I was so fucking oblivious
You did what you had to do
You could worry about the labels
For labels, they can't be peeled off you
Oh put me
Into the diving bell
Sink me down below
Into your private hell
I'll scrap the bottom of the floor
For the secrets you just can't tell
Put me in your diving bell

There's fire in the fuselage
A bizarre entertainment?
I just can't watch
Put me
Into your diving bell
Sink me down below
Into your private hell
I'm a weak man
I just had to come up for fresh air
Put me in your diving bell

I never asked
How you wore your mask
With your ritual tasks 
Seen through your jewelers glass
Oh drop me down
Into the diving bell
Sink me down below
Into your private hell
Diving bell

Sara , I never knew...

The Diving Bell (For Sara)

A chuga- chuga good time blues song (ZZ Top meets Chuck Berry) about not indulging in vices. Also, race car driving.

Lyrics:
Hey friends, you know I need to give up drinking
It's tearing up my guts
But still, I'm over eating
It leaves me so perplexed
I've got to give up that 
Marijuana
It makes me malleable
Lackadaisical
Like a slow-motion hex
I've got to give up this pornography
Because it's fucking up my sex

(chorus) Oh, you've got to give up a little something
To get yourself a little bit more(2X)

Take that race car around the bend
Put the hammer down
This could be the end?
Or maybe it could be good fortune shining on your door!

I've got to stop spending so much time on the internet
It makes my attention small
I never, ever finish what I start
I've got to give up these perfumed flavored vapes
The smell reminds me
Of the woman who were 
'In love' 
With me
But now they are
'In hate'
I've got to give up the women with dark circles under their eyes
The nighttime lies
That I take
And I paint
In my darkest arts

I've got an extremely high tolerance for risk
It's more than I can take
(yeah)
Tell my friends and family
To book me a heavy metal band
For my wake
I'm gonna say to everybody
Hey, do you see that coming?
That's my Mojo rising
On the horizon
Stop criticizing
I'm just waiting for my big break
(chorus)

Take that race car around the bend
Drop the hammer down
It could be the end?
With self control
You could get the win!
You've got to give up a little something
To get yourself a little bit more...

More! (or) How I learned To Get Ahead

Just a simple song for the lonely. Old fashioned human music for this modern age.

Lyrics:
I'm bringing you my honest confessional
I'm dying out here, don't you know?
I've been walking the internet at night
I don't know why I always fall for the tawdry
I always fall for the pills
I fall for your sweetest thrills
I'm dribbling down here at the end of the bar
Falling in
(falling in and out)
Falling in and out of love
I'm in the valley of the lonely
Don't look into the corona eye
You know that I always lie

I could be anything you need
I could be that book that you've been working on...
A paperback. Dog eared and worn...
A book you put up on the shelf...
A book you read that changes your sense of self...
I'm in the valley of the lonely
Don't look into the coronas' eye
The valley of the lonely...

The Valley Of The Lonely

Lyrics:
She was wrong for me
I knew it from the start
I'm not very smart
I left a spare key under the mat
To my broken heart

I'm kicking it
One step ahead of the blues
I'm kicking it 
One step ahead of the blues
I'm sleeping it off in those Sunday pews

My boss had an epiphany
When I was working at the mortuary
He said: Dig them holes faster!
"This business has no room for uncertainty!"

That may be
Oh, can't you see?
When I'm working for you
I just don't feel like I'm being me
When I'm working for you I ain't following my muse
And there she goes...
(There she goes!!!!)

I'm kicking it
One step ahead of the blues
I'm kicking it 
One step ahead of the blues
Hey friends, won't you help me spread the news?

I get all my blues for free
Don't you know I'm so low I can't see?
A lousy day...
A lousy pay...
I'm a lousy lay...
I think I'm everything
That everybody say

I'm kicking it
One step ahead of the blues
I'm kicking it 
One step ahead of the blues
I'm sleeping it off in those Sunday pews

One Step Ahead Of The Blues

Have a listen to my album "Curiosities Of Outsider Art" (Sept 2025). Quirky and interesting tunes.
Thank you for listening!

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. 
* Curiosities Of Outsider Art (Sept 2025)
*All this Useless Beauty (2025)
*Rockers (2024) 
*Arrhythmia & Blues (2024)
* The Curse Of A Good Looking Ghost (2024)
* Low Profile (2024)
* Smilers (EP 2023)
•Short Songs For Tall Minds"  (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)
•This Is How I Spend My Nights (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, Mountain Goats, Tom Waits, Mark Eitzel,  Randy Newman, Destroyer, Steely Dan, Captain Beefheart, Loudon Wainwright III, Leonard Cohen & The National. Most songs have the lyrics on the song page. Thank you for listening!