Long Old Time (Ocean Eyes) 

she slinked towards me wrapped in
a big carhartt jacket 
ripped up leggings & a tie-dye shirt
bon fille braids to contrast 
her caterpillar boots covered in dirt
then one kiss from her lips to mine
told me this one’s gonna hurt

gonna hurt a long old time
but you know that it’s alright
i had nothing going on tonight
matter of fact 
i didn’t have any plans
for the rest of my silly little life

this may be a bit remedial 
to those of you who’ve been
we’ll be covering hyperkulturmia 
and other states love puts you in
one look in them ocean eyes
I saw the rise and fall of man

but i’ll hold her gaze long as I can
though the waves they come crashing
only one way to understand 
this ain’t no phase I’ve left the land

it’s some deep sea diving
ocean floor vibing
ain’t no better way to live
then start dying

Long Old Time

Trapdoor (Nothing At All)

Living it all again
Merry go round my friend
And the jokes on us (who else?)
In the chrome canyons at dusk 
Watch it all unfolding you should 
Liquidate your holdings while you can 
Keep ahead of the curve 
Try to redistribute 
But It’s just another tribute to the man

All good things 
must come to an end 

I used to peddle back instead
Though it’s the same old track behind & ahead
Trading precious sleep for a little edge
Couldn’t take what I was given
So I tripped the algorithm 
and it was worth it just to live inside a moment
So go pick out a favorite 
And agree to reiterate the 
Polyphonic symphony in all its dissonance
Cuz the same suits telling us our song was stolen 
Will dice it back into isolated components 

And the symbiotic potency is lost
When the dichotomous chemistry gets washed

Waking up in a fog
Next to my black dog
If I could slow it down a bit
Aggregate the data 
Wouldn’t tell me anything 
I couldn’t see by looking 
over my own fence 
The dance plays out with fervor
With the closing of the merger 
I just tip my server 85%
Cuz she flows like water thru the establishment 
And drive her up to the country every weekend

All good things 
So they begin

Merry Go Round

LEFT TO US

Ghost On / Off  (demo)

“Undertow”

spiraling outward 
Into thanklessness 
She pulled you back into love
With one courageous kiss
32 years not knowing this space exists
Troubled waters 
You can bank on it

(Chorus)
Girl you know 
For every flow 
There is an undertow
Spin you round 
Drag you down
Drift you so far from home 

spiraling upward 
Writhing in the throes 
Loving someone else 
Showed you how little 
you love yourself
That’s how it goes 

Chorus 

But no hypnotism 
Or desert trippin’
Could ever separate 
Our souls entangled 
For better or for worse
Until the hearse
And if Lady Luck 
She smiles down on me
I’ll get another chance 
In our next life
When we’re both cats
Your pretty eyes
Are the doorway 
I dwell inside

Undertow

Laws of Attraction

Living with the boys down on George St.
I think I’m doing better now
It just wasn’t working out at home 
You’re always a child in that house

Don’t you mind the weary 
look upon my face
Just been a little bit tired 
These past few decades

Working in a laundry cross the lot 
Gets so damn hot in summertime 
But I’m keeping busy, save up most my money 
These pretty girls will cut your hair 
For a bid on your precious time

Don’t you mind the mess 
that has become my room
Still a little burnt out 
From that fight I lost to the womb

Rufous Wine

Blue Grotto

Kirwin Yard

Bedtime Fiction

Your shoulders show 
how tired you are 
of all disappointment so far 

calling & waiting & thinking on just 
sleeping us off until summer when 
you'll take me down to the old mirror 
house where we'll relearn how to laugh at ourselves 

And if my pace 
don't match your own 
I'll run faster 
if you want 

crumpling up all of yesterday's 
sketches they're tumbling over your 
brim to the floor 

Disgruntled & mumbling, "This is the 
last time and I should've known so much 
better before..."

Mirrorhouse

They say money talk but it just hums like any tool does // and if you can’t walkie the talkie baby, even real gold is fools love // the Yangless Ying is an aimless dream; it feigns a gentle cool buzz // then sobered by the Transmuter; I’m breaking Mother Natures rules cuz 
I been

Grinding, weaving & flowing 
Between the finding, feeling & knowing 
Sewing the disparate fabrics together
Quilting a historic maverick to weather 
All storms that come when I

Defy the laws of physics leaving Father Time in stitches // May he rest in zen on a nest of tens divorced from linear distance // All the best of luck finding these circles endings or beginnings // 
In the Gray Lodge chanting out between two worlds, “The Gift is hidden”

The Grey Lodge

“Kid J”
Music / Lyrics copyright 2023 James Parison 

My blood still bleeding all black & blue
Like when I was dreaming back to you 
but crossing over my strings detach
blame it all on dimension gaps 

One more love song 
just what we all need
I could not understand 
you had to hear it from me
Every time you wake

Cuz all it takes is some 40 winks
To blur & fade all word & deed
Feels like I barely escape with my soul
Welcome home from the shadow world

(Chorus)

Love you then 
love you now
love you till I don’t know how
love you here 
love you there
love you into the stratosphere

KID J

A piece I composed for the ending shot of the short film "Full Flavor" that I wrote in 2005 but have yet to film. 

After I Leave

Only Prayer

Copyright James Parison 2025

Falling up 
From a dream that might 
change your luck
In the season of the witch 
Sprinting just shy of the pitch 

Bittersweet pill
you’d think by now I’d know the drill 

Keep to the Gentleman’s Code
Don’t tell nobody at all 
Believe me man she’ll let you know 
One way or another for sure 

Hold the phone 
But don’t phone it in; throw a bone
And turn the other cheek 
But let ‘em glimpse 
the blade you kept sheathed

And dance baby dance
Until those bones become plants 

Keep to the Gentleman’s Code
Don’t tell nobody at all 
Believe me man she’ll let you know 
One way or another 
As sure as the flutter 
Of big monarch butterflies 
deep in your stomach 
As sure as the shutter: 1/100 
Immortalized on 35 & locked up forever

Gentlemen's Code

If your heart won't let you
Play the fool
Unlearn the lessons
You taught yourself,
And they taught you

In a dream
I had yesterday
you were shallow & cruel
and talking to you now
is a dream come true

Well I switched off my mind 
like a television lay me down 
and listen to these summer nights
I'm tired of racing like a street
lights blinking, changing colors in my baby's eyes

I'm tired of moving like a street 
these lights blinking flashing changing 
colors in my baby's eyes

In my baby's pretty pretty eyes
my baby's eyes

I'm grinding all the time
Move in a brand new way
The action comes before the feeling for me these days 
(you'll be ok)
I'm grinding all the time (just get outta bed)
see in a brand new light (you sleepyhead)
the action comes before the feeling for me these nights
(you'll be alright)
I'm grinding all the time (just get outta bed)
Move in a brand new way (you sleepyhead)
The action comes before the feeling for me these days 
(you'll be ok)


Action Before Feeling (demo)

East Coast Freezing (Medicines)

24 Spoons

Do's & don'ts & wills & won'ts 
and who the hell knows if he's left alone
so I'll be there
(holding you together)
I'll be there
(tearing you apart)

Just in case you boil over...
I'm gonna be there
(holding you together)
I'll be there
(tearing you apart)

9/4/'05

I'll never forget what you said to me:
"You can't change your family 
and they'll always be there,
holding you together, tearing you apart.
So put to rest your reveries 
hum a happy melody 
you know they're gonna be there...
(holding you together / tearing you apart)"

9/4/'05


Holding You Together

Gone To Temple

Clorophyll Flow (demo)

Branchdance (demo)

Lost On Me

The Villain 

A swarm of signals splashing out from ramping up too high
Fucking up reception in the space between you & I
You weave & you wave like the sea of tall grass I see straight through   
Rockin’ & a rollin’ the boat just to spill my gin & juice 

Hey I remember playing games like these back in school
If ever you lose the upper hand just deflect, distract, change the rules

You’re a solo player in a game for two
Makes for a lonely you 

Sick from inhaling your smokeshow but I still hold up The Mirror 
Like singeing holes in your fabric would help to see any clearer
Uncompleted circles; which end was the beginning?
You want the other side of the story, babe, you’re gonna have to play the villain 

There and back again and big surprise nobody’s winning

The Villain

this is a cover of my friend Dillon's song. 
all lyrics/music copyright Dillon A. Benik 2005

Keep Good Company

lo-fi/ambient/folk/'indie'/
experimental/shoegaze/electronic

James Parison

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