Inventiveness by my questionable standards

VIdeo: https://vimeo.com/545768158

If there was anybody’s heaven
I’d look for you in their restaurant
I’d order something long extinct 
and a drink 
and another drink

They roll up the streets in heaven
Everybody’s tucked in by nine
Everybody gets free rides on the subway
It don’t go nowhere but they run on time

Bully for you
You’re flying 
Bully for you
You’re flying high
Don’t you worry
The sun don’t set here, you got
All the time in the world

The cops patrol the streets in heaven
Everybody’s locked in by 9
Hell yes! There’s unlimited donuts
They don’t do nothing but clock out on time
And if I got the chance I’d bet it all on 27
And I’d win every time
I’d make a killing in that afterlife
’cuz it’s a goldmine

If you want a good table in Anybody’s Heaven
It’s not what, but who, you know
You sit right across from everyone you ever met
And the service is eternally slow
 
Bully for you
You’re flying 
Bully for you
You’re flying high
Ain’t no darkness, and no dawn, you got
All the time in the world

If there was anybody’s heaven
I’d look for you in their restaurant
I’d order something long extinct 
and a drink 
and another drink
and another drink

On A Black Horse

VIDEO ANIMATION at https://vimeo.com/697211730

I’m in the mountains of the moon
Shining
In the mountains of the moon
Shining down

I got out
Maybe too late
From a city named after a state
Named after a mistake

And we’re sawed off
Against the grain
Traded rush-hour in a bumper car
For the A-train

And then, surprise, you’re 
Covered in signs you don’t recognize
What you think you need you realize is 
Stubbornly elsewhere
Stubbornly elsewhere

uh-hmm

You grow up
And you move out
Collecting success in another man’s
Knock down and drag out 

Then, surprise, 
The whole thing’s just been serialized
What you thought was near you realize is 
Stubbornly elsewhere
Stubbornly elsewhere

Elsewhere, stubbornly elsewhere
Elsewhere, stubbornly elsewhere

I’m in the mountains of the moon
Shining
In the mountains of the moon
Shining down
Elsewhere, stubbornly elsewhere
Elsewhere, stubbornly elsewhere

Boom, surprise, 
Look at how the time just flies
And every face you recognize
Suddenly elsewhere
Suddenly elsewhere
Stubbornly elsewhere
Stubbornly elsewhere

Stubbornly Elsewhere

Listen on Spotify

Back in -- who knows when -- a record-junkie friend of mine called Diana Mercer brought Dale Lawrence to a dinner at my tiny apartment in Broad Ripple. I didn't know him well, and he was a lovely, if bemused guest. We had fettucine, I think i overcooked the chicken. There were surely guitars around, but I don't recall either of us touching one. The evening was cordial enough – but about two weeks later, I heard Right to Left's "When Company Comes." and I thought – man! A missed opportunity, as this guy is the real deal songwriter. He went on to be part of the Vulgar Boatmen, probably one of the most well-regarded indie acts to come out of Indiana. While "Katie" and "Drive Somewhere" will always be favorites, seeing that one was "allowed" to do great stuff from anywhere meant a lot to me, and to the career choices I made. I'm covering this from memory, so apologies for lyrical and key mistakes, it's hard to find Right to Left vinyl in California. And hey Dale, if you're out there, Thanks!

When Company Comes (Dale Lawrence/Right to Left Cover)

How high’s that mountain of money
How wide is your sacred ground and can you
Square your circle of confidants hm
When they’re not around

Thought you built
On sacred ground
But the wind is building
And that river’s going to turn around  

One day you’re up 
The next you’re down
But a hurricane is blowin  
And that river’s gonna turn around

Sliding in those
Howling sounds
Better bring in the dogs
Because that river’s going to turn around

You better start the car
Get to higher ground
Better hope you got gas in there
Because that river’s going to turn around

So you got to be president
Got keys to all the towns
You’re the pride of the gun show
Your voice, you do like the sound 


Thought you built
On sacred ground
But the wind is building
And that river’s going to turn around  

One day you’re up 
The next you’re down
But a hurricane is blowin and 
And that river’s gonna turn around

River Gonna Turn (2023)

We got boysenberry candles
I’ll give you that
Bought all the cards our cords could handle
I’ll give you that

Relatives in from out of town
Big naked flakes sticking to the ground
People in sweaters gather round
To talk and talk and talk and
Talk and talk and talk
I’ll have another glass of whatever that is

And I found a gold and stony necklace
I’ll give you that
It will be real nice but it won’t be reckless
I’ll give you that

And I just want to talk to you
I just want to talk to you
Get you alone for a minute or two
To talk and talk and talk and
Talk and talk and talk
And have another glass of whatever that is
Maybe I should just shut up

I’ll give you that
I’ll give you that
I’ll give
You that

Fa la la lala la la la la la
Fa la la lala la la la la la
Fa la la lala la la la la la

But We can turn this car around
We can go right home right now and talk about
What you want to remember remember  
Remember remember

I’ll give you that
I’ll give you that
I’ll give
You that

I'll Give You That (Charlie Hopper Cover)

I went to the mall sat on Santa’s knee
All the little kids were glarin’ at me
And Santa said what do you want this year
I said If it’s not too much trouble
I’d like a big recording contract for me
And all of my

Friends around town but I started feeling selfish
And I wished for peace on Earth instead
It’s the same wish every year but it still
Hasn’t happened yet

Ahh Ahh
Hanging out on Christmas Day
Hiding out from those cliches

My brother stuck a candy cane up his nose
For the fourteenth year – 
He does it just to get Mom’s goat
It works real well

To all my cynical friends
This Christmas spirit I still will defend
Just as long as we all get what we’re worth

Ahh Ahh
Christmas Day and Christmas night
You say I’m tough and I won’t bend
All those cards that I won’t send

The only card I sent this year was to you

I guess it is still my favorite season
and I can still find a reason
Christmas night I’ll spend with you
It may sound corny but I want to make your Christmas 
dream come true


Ahh Ahh
Christmas Day and Christmas night
Ahh Ahh
Christmas Day and Christmas night

Christmas Day and Christmas Night (John Scot Sheets Cover)

The house where I was born
I can’t recognize any more
Trees tower over its gables
That weren’t even there before
There before 

And five thousand miles and more
We’ve run out of places to store
The memory souls and keepsakes that
Weren’t even there before
There before 

But these considerations come
Blood relations go
You could fill up six Great Lakes with all 
The things I don’t want to know 

The things I can’t want to know  
And all I can’t bear to know 

Ooh 

The light in our eyes may set
And tallying up regret
Maybe walking a path with you that we
Claimed we never set

But these considerations come
As blood relations leave
You could fill up a whole bible with all
The junk that I don’t believe

The stuff I can’t believe
The things that I can’t believe in
The news i’m not receiving
The junk that they keep repeating
For all the years they’re breathing

But the house where I was born
You can’t recognize any more
And these trees tower over its gables that
They weren’t even there before
They weren’t even there before

Considerations

Podcast Theme Demo, full length; used for the Writing Criminals Podcast

LA Cozy

Ain’t it just a big machine?
'Round the gears
And in between
Amazing that we ever met
After turning up
By accident
But 
Would you ever let it lift you– 
Would you ever let it lift you, lift you up? 
Would you ever let it lift you– 
Would you ever let it lift you, lift you up? 
Seems so random that I fit you
Yet it matters that I lift you, lift you up
After showing me, I bid you
Can we bear to let it lift–––

Oh, carry me long,
O, carry me ‘long. 
(ah…) 

And 
Is it just a big machine?
We’re born we die 
And in between
Amazing that we made a pair
When we could have missed it 
Only by a hair –

But would you ever let it lift you– 
Would you ever let it lift you, lift you up? 
Would you ever let it lift you– 
Would you ever let it lift you, lift you up? 
Mad as a hatter that I fit you
Yet it matters that I lift you, lift you up
After decades, oh I bid you
Can we bear to let it lift ––

Oh, carry me long,
O, carry me 'long.

Buy on iTunes

O' Carry Me Long

Fifteen
For a minute
And it’s gone before you even realize you’re in it.
Summer bleacher summer cigarette
Waiting for a nothing thain’t happened yet

Then I was sixteen
Overnight 
And I floated through it all without oversight 
A year that ended with a tolling bell
Floating through the hallway of some Florida hotel

But where the stars are at the horizon
Where they melt into the sea
Where you find your forever finite
With decades still to be
Can you see
Can you see

Seventeen
for a moonlit hour
Seems like its sweet til it all turns sour
A year ended with me city bound
Always passing through and not around

But where the stars are at the horizon
Where they melt into the sea
Where you find your forever finite
With decades still to be
Can you see
Can you see
Can you see
Can you see
Can you see

I was eighteen…
For a leap year’s month
When you try to be her everything for everyone
And by nineteen…
It all evaporates
Quick as the steam inside a Chevrolet 

But where the stars at the horizon
Where they melt into the sea
Where you find your forever finite
With decades still to be
Can you see
Can you see
Can you see
Can you see
Can you see

The stars at the horizon
Where they melt into the sea
Where you find your forever finite
With decades still to be

Biography

you learn the truth about everything, everyone, anywhere, 
eventually 
every person you see is unguarded, uncharted –
unnaturally
all the voices are loveworn birdsongs that chime on
melodically
and her movements leave traces through places that race past
colorfully

and you wander, you wander, you wander, you wander 
you wonder, you wonder, you wonder, you wonder, you wonder

now her life is a thrift store to poke through, like folk do
repeatedly
full of scents and stray hairstrands and sleep-sands that gather
typically
there's no dent in the bed sheets that repeat and repeat 
curiously
but the room rearranges, in stages and rages
continuously

and you wander, you wander, you wander, you wander 
you wonder, you wonder, you wonder, you wonder, you wonder

there's a whir and a blur and a stir with a quiet
intensity
there's a year in the mirror and the fear that really
it's happened to me
we spin on our axis and practice our tactics
eternally
and the most that we'll toast is the boast we exist
ephemerally

This Second Day As A Ghost

My eyes
They’re open
Before my dream is over
And I still feel
I’m holding on to you

My eyes
In orbit
And strain to find the twilight
And I still feel
These fictions might be true

Since thirty It was all surrender
You’re my mask, and a good pretender  

Yeah

Indentations in the bed we share
Dreams embedded in it by the pair 
oh yeah.

Morning light
Eternal but not quite
Eternally 
True

Finding something that is California
An addiction and no one to warn you off
Yeah

Like an earthquake we are stirred and shaken
Saving something for the give and taken away
Oh yeah.

Morning light
Eternal but not quite
Eternally 
True

Eternally True

Put your eyes upon the rod 
To prove it
You’re a mounted trophy head 
Shoot it
Planet in your pocket 
End of the Earth
And then you say
Shoot it, Shoot it.

We’re drinking tonight, 
We’re drinking tonight,
Shoot it, Shoot it.

We’re drinking tonight, 
We’re drinking tonight,
they’re gonna want to meet you, meet you

Who can you trust,
What’s on the menu
Who’s got a hymn
Who does it sing to
She said “I should ring him," 
"Didn’t you bring him?
He’ll walk Central Park
Make noise at dark
He’s crazy"

We’re drinking tonight, 
We’re drinking tonight,
Shoot it, Shoot it.

Buy on iTunes 

Shoot

Hit by a circus truck when she was five
And she’s alive
And I heard once upon a time
She had a twin that didn’t survive

She walked a Peru tightrope
Not unusual in that town
Still it’s harder staying up
Than it is to plummet down down down down down down

Down down down 
Down down down 
Down down down 
Then around

Oh, Can you hear me
Will you echo through the wall
And with apology
Is she haunting you at all

Ghosts, me and you
So we see through
fables not what true
Bourbon and ballyhoo 

Nahh Naah Nahh Nahh Naah Nahh
Nahh Naah Nahh
   
Down down down 
Down down down 
Down down down 
Then around

Kidnapped once in Portugese
And another time in French
But the man with the zune tattoo 
Left her perched upon a bench 

Oh, Can you hear me
Do I echo through the wall
And with apology
Am I haunting you at all

Will of the whispers
Of the secrets and the shouts
Will it make a difference
Or is just the sounds of the heart that 
makes it out

Ghosts, me and you
So we see through
fables not what true
Bourbon and ballyhoo

Bourbon and Ballyhoo

Umbers, ochres 
Sunsets toward the ceiling 
Umbers, ochres 
Less colors more like a feeling

A rustle in the butler’s pantry
The other day
I know there’s ghosts 
And what ghosts say (they say)

Every time I try to touch something I love
I pass right through

Every time I try to tell you something
I don’t know how
They don’t hear me now

So  go
Obviously I’m staying
That’s what ghosts are saying

Midnights, navies
Bopping above my head it’s hovering
Midnights, navies
Tattered casket clothes uncovered
Fifteen sixteen ribs
An ankle bone

I know there’s ghosts, cuz
When we’re home (they moan)

Every time I try to touch something I love
I pass right through

Every time I try to tell you something
I don’t know how

So  go
Obviously I’m staying
That’s what ghosts are saying

(It’s not so bad over here
we just get bored
Arguing which is worse 
to be feared or ignored)

Every time I try to touch something I love
I pass right through
   
Every time I try to tell you something
I don’t know how

So  go, go
Obviously I’m staying
That’s what ghosts are saying

That's What Ghosts are Saying (Charlie Hopper Cover Demo)

Lyric Video at https://vimeo.com/136985653

Electric copper calls, it crawls the buzzing hives
Bleat, siren, pinhole lights, within: a million lives
A million stories and not one of them is mine
And not one of them is mine

Fading, fading

A gleaming pinpoint writes new clouds across the sky
Within it, ten score histories from hello to goodbye
Below are clusters that are loneliness defense
We want to be together, and then we build a fence

I saw an island from a window of a plane
I saw the places where they shelter from the rain
Where they shelter from the rain

Fading, fading

Westerly

Sky Harbor

That's What Ghosts are Saying, second demo (Charlie Hopper Cover)

I miss the way you talk with your hands
Imitate the singers of our favorite bands 
I love the look on your face when you decide to dance 
And life was just so good 

Now I'm thinking about the night we fought 
And ruined every meal in that restaurant 
When I said you don't appreciate just what you got 
Or treat me like you should—

(Today I’d take that back if I could ) Cuz

I suck at being your ex 
Turns out it's harder than a man expects
To say goodbye forever
I’d rather be together
I’m ready for whatever you say cuz
I
Suck
At
Being 
Your ex

I’ve been on dates I guess they went all right
If I tried to forget you sometime I might
But if I get through-the-day you're in my dreams at night
So. Why even try?

((I keep) thinking that I see you from the corner of my eye) cuz

I suck at being your ex 
Turns out it's harder that a guy expects
To say goodbye forever
Rather be together
And I’m ready for whatever you say, cuz
I
Suck
At
Being 
Your ex

Of course I remember your number
And work stuff 
Just called to say I still love you but I
(I don't like doing what I can't do well ) Cuz

I… I… I… I….

I suck at being your ex  
Thought I’d figured out the opposite sex
But no I’m not that clever
I wanna be together
And I’m ready for whatever you say
I
Suck
At
Being 
Your ex

I Suck at Being Your Ex (Charlie Hopper Cover Demo)

Oh oh oh, did you see, did you let ‘em know
it’s  quite a thunderhead framed in the window
Sunny here, yet a mile away tornado blow
Out of a clear blue sky, hey, you just never know

Oh, oh, you are the rainbird
That’s the song you sing, you only sing before it pours
Oh, oh, you are the rainbird
It's gonna rain, gonna rain on poor me

Not every little dream you might have can come true
Give it a chance, enough of them do. 
Storms will blow, surrounded by a hurricane
Not so bad that it’s never gonna be the same

Not every little dream you might have comes true
Give it a chance and enough of them do. 
Not every little dream you might have comes true
Give it a chance and enough of them do. 

Rainbird

I guess there’s life in the old boy yet 
Looks like you better call in 
And have them all delay the sunset

I guess there’s life in the old boy yet 
Though his head’s in the clouds of the smoke
That rises from her cigarette

The money and the math
Is the math and the money and 
The money in the math 
And the math in the money
The money and the math
Is the math and the money and 
The money in the math 
And the math in the money

It’s the nonsense in our babbling heart
It's the nonsense in our babbling hearts
Yes our babbling hearts
It’s the nonsense in our babbling heart
It's the nonsense in our babbling hearts
Yes our babbling hearts

Ooh, be careful not to break your neck
As you mentally undress her 
And you haven’t even met yet

They put a ring around your neck
Crawling up the down escalator
Chasing after your final paycheck

It’s just the nonsense in our babbling heart
It the nonsense in our babbling hearts
Yes our babbling hearts
It’s the nonsense in our babbling heart
It's the nonsense in our babbling hearts
Yes our babbling hearts

The money and the math
Is the math and the money and 
The money in the math 
And the math in the money

(Serenade at night, serenade you all all all all)

I guess there’s life in the old boy yet 
Though his head’s in the clouds of the smoke
That rises from her cigarette

The Money And The Math

I will brace you from the storm
Breaking blows or bullet swarm
I'll warmly shine as the cold wind blow
’til there’s just my embers’ glow
Love with you is all i'll know
’til there’s just my embers’ glow

How can I be equal to
The love that must reside in you
It’s a question that will hold me low
’til there’s just my embers’ glow
Love with you is all i'll know
’til there’s just my embers’ glow

Taste the air
And breathe the sweet
Until we're statues
Obsolete
Furrowed field
And littered street
Dying young 
And incomplete

“Cause mountians fall and rivers dry 
We forget the things we glorify
I’ll watch these treasures come and go
’til there’s just my embers’ glow

Love with you is all i'll know
’til there’s just my embers’ glow

The Embers

Backlit, summer cut
I know you’re really into it
‘cause nothing changes

Oh, oh, you got a glow
hey you know you gotta go ‘cause 
It’s contagious

I guess it’s relative ‘cause
Everything is relative
its just geography

But it’s a big sky,
it’s not that big a lie –
that we know everything

So hey, let’s race the moon.
Let’s let our dragons and our tigers and our horses roam free.
Hey, let’s race the moon. 
Let loose the wild and windy over our heart’s sea.

Whereat with a blade
He knew – he thought – he had it made
He's sweetly stupid

Seems a lot we paid –
A century we had it made
And we were the “good” kids

Yeah, yeah, so, so young,
Maybe we were saving some but
Let’s not waste it.

“Cause it’s a big sky,
It’s not that big lie
– like we know anything

So hey, let’s race the moon.
Let’s let our dragons and our tigers and our horses roam free.
Hey, let’s race the moon. 
Let loose the wild and windy over our heart’s sea.

Race The Moon Remix

Uh-oh, the feedback and crackle
Sacrifice another string
Sounds like maybe it’s too much to tackle
All bumble but no bee sting 

Maybe it’s the light show
Maybe it’s the no-shows
Maybe shoulda written it all off
From the get-go.

Falling flat and sounding thin
It falls to hell by stumblin’
And then she walks in
And then she walks in

Now watch them boy they got some action
Put a tap into those Beatle boots
Now you got the main attraction
You got the soul, you got the roots, yeah

Maybe its the perfume
Maybe it’s the sweater
All I know is since she appeared
All the world is all the better now

It falls to hell by stumblin’
Or taking it square, all on the chin
And then she walks in
And then she walks in

Now watch em boy they got some action
they’re filling up the dance floor
Now you got the main attraction
She’s  all what we’ve been waiting for

-Montgomery/Johnson/Emhardt
Written and field recorded in Saint-Remy-De-Provence, France and Santa Monica, California

And Then She Walked In

And Then She Walks In

Cindy slammed the door behind her
Said “do you have something that’s sharp?
Don’t think that he followed me here
But you can’t trust people from these parts”

Another midnight car alarm
Another man from mars or some such
Escaped from a body farm
School cufflinks and a button up

Ha Aye Ya Ya! Aye Ya Ya!

Because the 
Needle keeps skipping on People Are Strange
Needle keeps skipping on People Are Strange
Needle keeps skipping on People Are Strange
Needle keeps skipping on People Are Strange

Cindy spraypaints the windows all black
Tapes up the cracks and the vents all shut too
Up the chimney from atop the barstool
I see her brand new staccato tattoo

Explains how we own our own air now
Explains that there’s power in the color blue
Explain how the vapors are electric
Can’t explain her staccato tattoo

Another midnight car alarm
Another man from the watchdog government
Escaped from an E-Street cubicle
School cufflinks and a button up

Aye Ya Ya! Aye Ya Ya! Aye Ya Ya! Aye Ya Ya!

The 
Needle keeps skipping on People Are Strange
Needle keeps skipping on People Are Strange
Needle keeps skipping on People Are Strange
Needle keeps skipping on People Are Strange

Staccato Tattoo (The Needle Keeps Skipping on People Are Strange)

See the video:  https://vimeo.com/253991592

A smile from the surface of a photograph
Spectator at a lost parade
Frozen, it’s like a sesquicentennial
Fresh as a lemonade

Wave as you glide by
A sash and a paper cup
Wave as you glide by
Look down like things are looking up

17 and 33
Seems a good bet to me
17 and 33
stack em up we’ll spin and see 

Its spins, it spins around
Its spins, it spins around

A smile from the surface of a swimming pool
Spectator at a lost parade
Achievements and a bonus
And a 401(k)

Wave as you glide by
A sash and a paper cup
Wave as you glide by
Look down like things are looking up

Seems a good bet to me
Seems a good bet to me
Seems a good bet to me
Stack em up we’ll spin and see

It spins, its spins around
It spins, its spins around
It spins, its spins, it spins

The Lost Parade

iTunes/Apple Music

Video: https://vimeo.com/301394027
In sleep you’re always beautiful
A pillow full
Of flying dreams
And revised futures glittering
And in the twilight
I can see

Your hair is flowing and 
You’re all-knowing
And I
I can see you sleeping sweetly hidden
Your eyes fluttering beneath their lids and
I know
The dawn will come to send you low 

Well you get up
And then you walk the straight line
And you get up
And then you lock the door behind
And you get up
And then you wake to find
That you get up
To get up one more time

 
I come home we’re trading stories 
And replacing
Things that happened
With things we wish
That would have happened
Instead what we know that happened 

And I
Will clear the dishes
Snuff the candles 
Dim tomorrow
Let go the handles
And fall asleep
Hours before you do


Well you get up
And then you walk the straight line
And you get up
And then you lock the door behind
And you get up
And then you wake to find
That you get up
To get up one more time

Dream Cycle

Apple Music

Jenny takes that dreaded bus downtown
(Just a little hungover)
Oh, just thirty six minutes to work 
(Three stops to go)
Used to say that a guy with a wandering eye was par
(Hey baby)
When your paycheck’s signed by jerks
(Can you work late)

But her city 
It’s a scroll
And she watches it unroll
Shes young and then she’s old
She’s reflected in the window

Unwind a tornado
Unwind a tornado

She contemplates she just might miss her stop
(Who’ll pay the con ed?)
As the coffee shops roll by
(Flat white decaf)
Escape into the mirrored canyons
(Gotta find new roommate)
May not win, thinks she oughtta try, to

Unwind a tornado
Unwind a tornado

These clocks they move so fast 
Except on the days they don’t
So much to unload 
Where there a will there’s a won’t

But her city 
It’s a scroll
And she watches it unroll
Between timid and too bold
She’s reflected in the window 

Unwind a tornado
Unwind a tornado
Unwind a tornado
Unwind a tornado tornado

Jenny takes an uber home
(She’s got five stars)
Neon flashes through drops of rain
(Instagram it)
Tho my heart is sinking like a stone
(She won’t pick up)
Tomorrow she’ll try again, to

Unwind a tornado 
Unwind a tornado (gonna blow you around)
Unwind a tornado (sucks the life right out)
Unwind a tornado tornado

Jenny takes that dreaded bus downtown
Oh, just thirty six minutes to work 
Used to say that a guy with a wandering eye was par
When your paycheck’s signed by jerks

Unwind a tornado 
Unwind a tornado tornado

Unwind a Tornado

Down on the street a caravan of supercars 
Announce the night has turned 
To 
Day

They rattle drafty windows that strain to keep the golden morning light 
At 
Bay

Upstairs there’s a forgotten man
He broke his hip, he starves, and then he
Fades 
Away

A floor below a woman secretly wishes
That the boy she dates would learn 
To 
Stray

Oh

And on a phone a text arrives 
We’re sorry but you did not get 
The part

It sits inside a gym bag that gets stolen
As she suffers for 
Her art

And somewhere at the studio a producer’s niece
Instead becomes 
A star

After paying all the dues she did during
That tough two weeks at 
Julliard

Oh
It’s a gilded age
it’s a gilded age
it’s a gilded age
it’s a gilded age

And in a small town angry fingers
Punch expletives at the west coast 
“libtard”

As his favorite hunting dog is choking on his chain
Out in the 
Front yard

And in the inland empire there’s a man 
Who was in pictures in the 
Seventies

He’d found a missing extra in a trailer once
He tried but she just would not 
Breathe

Oh
It’s a gilded age
it’s a gilded age
it’s a gilded age
it’s a gilded age

Our inland empire dolly grip 
He worked just inches from the 
Stars

And he’d spend hours wrapping up 
As they departed in their 
Supercars

One day the phone got quiet 
And the call sheets didn’t call for just his 
expertise

So he sold all of his autographs his stock and trade 
And now he’s just like you and 
Me

Oh 
It’s a gilded age

Gilded Age

I don’t remember what i dreamed exactly
But it left me heartsick
Didn’t leave me with a million dollars
Left me carrying a big big stick

Don’t remember what you don’t remember
Remember even less each day
If it’s gonna leave a bittersweet nothing
Why remember nothing anyway

All I know is I’m a morning older
And I can really see I need a shave
And I could never really be your hero
Romatic lead who will save the day

I don’t remember what i dreamed exactly
But i know if felt like high school
Everybody was smiling sweetly
Or maybe laughing at this fool

I didn’t know her but she took my hand and
Read me something, maybe Hemingway 
If it’s gonna leave a bittersweet nothing
Why remember nothing anyway

All I know is I’m a morning older
And now I feel like I need a pill
Couldn’t even be your understudy
In this imaginary playbill

Can’t remember what i dreamed exactly
But it left me with questions
Don’t recognize those fading faces
But I’m open to suggestions

Don’t remember what you don’t remember
Remember even less each day
If it’s gonna leave a bittersweet nothing
Why remember nothing anyway

I don’t remember what i dreamed exactly
But it left me heartsick
Didn’t leave me with a million dollars
Left me carrying a big big stick

Don’t remember what you don’t remember
Remember even less each day
If it’s gonna leave a bittersweet nothing
Why remember nothing anyway

All I know is I’m a morning older
And now I feel like I need a pill

Bittersweet Nothing

Someday they’re gonna look up
As they kiss their babies’ cheeks
Tell ‘em what the moon once looked like 
To the poets and the Greeks

Before they smoothed it out
To a silver ball
And cut it into countries
And built the wall

Back when it used to wane 
Until it disappeared
Before the lights of its cities
Kept it bright all year

Ooh they’re gonna miss it
Yeah they’re gonna miss it
They’re gonna miss 
The way they kissed 
Way back when no one could resist it
Ooh they’re gonna miss that poets’ moon

Ooh. ooh.

And in the movies 
They’ll add a stand-in moon
That felt the way it did
In some old Gershwin tune

And the actors will pretend
To recognize
The way the moon reflects the truths
In a lovers’ eyes

And afterwards this moon will win 
Academy awards
Walk the carpet with the starlet
And be adored

In his speech he’ll say, “we miss it
Yeah boy do we miss it
We’re gonna miss all that we risked
Way back when no one could resist it”
Yeah we sure do miss that poet’s moon

ooh. ooh.
 
From the sea of tranquility
We’re always centered in the sky
Longing from much greater distances
Than meets the eye

And what does heaven mean now
And what does heaven mean now

Someday they’re gonna look up
Free of the mystique
They’re going wonder what the fuss was about
To those poets and those Greeks

After all it’s just a mirror
They got kin up in New Houston
That web of lights and billboards is
just something you get used to

Saw how it was in a movie once
And on that moon that script relies
It must have put on quite a show back then
You could see it in their eyes

Ooh they’re gonna miss it
Yeah they’re gonna miss it
They’re gonna miss, miss
Oh how the memory persists
Yeah they’re gonna miss that poets’ moon

Miss the Moon

May gray dawn 
Is hanging silk 
Happy birthday 
Happy pill 
Security lights a halo glow
Visibility warnings it won’t show
The air it only offers 
A cold blue cold
 
And I remember bravery
Move more slowly 
It’s telling me

And when you walk under water
You keep from drowning
You walk under water
You breathe the sea
You walk under water
You keep from drowning
Breathe over me 

Lion hearted 
Weak in the knees
It’s in my animal naturally
Mist of morning light of day
But in the darkness
We make our way  
And over and over and over and over
We stay

And it’s been years since the bravery
Moving under it’s showing me

And you walk under water
To keep from drowning
You walk under water
And breathe the sea
You walk under water
You keep from drowning
Breathe over me 

And you walk under water
To keep from drowning
And you walk under water
You breathe the sea
And you walk under water
To keep from drowning
And you walk under water
You  breathe the sea

Walk Underwater

Video: https://vimeo.com/448738001

When I’m gone, pretend I’ve gone to Spain
When I’m gone, pretend I’m in Majorca and feeling no pain
When I’m gone, pretend I’m learning secrets the rest of us have lost
And every memory we have, is etched in a star someplace

In evening clothes
A champagne bucket and an orchestra
Tides receding
Playing songs we’d both forgotten we adore
Painted ceiling 
Of the Constellations freeform
Where I’ve gone

When I’m gone, pretend it’s only temporary
When I’m gone, pretend I’m not with every cat we ever knew
When I’m gone, pretend I finally know how everything works now
And every memory we had, is etched in a star so blue

In the evening glow
A champagne bucket and an orchestra
Tides receding
Playing songs we’d both forgotten we adore
Painted ceiling 
Of the constellations freeform
Where I’ve gone
Where I’ve gone

Pretend I nap with every cat we ever knew

When I’m gone, pretend it’s only temporary
When I’m gone, pretend mean people all wised up enough
When I’m gone, remember no one tells a better joke
And every memory we had, is etched in a star so 

Champagne bucket and an orchestra
Playing songs we’d both forgotten we adore
Playing songs we’d both forgotten we adore
Where I’ve gone

Oh pretend I’m learning secrets the rest of us have lost
Oh pretend I’m learning secrets the rest of us have lost

The Constellations Freeform

VIDEO ANIMATIONS: 
Chimney: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awBu3XskCFA
(Three Stars For) Anybody’s Heaven: https://vimeo.com/545768158
Like Clockwork: https://vimeo.com/472825527
The Constellations Freeform: https://vimeo.com/448738001
The Same River Twice: https://vimeo.com/461991945 
Dream Cycle: https://vimeo.com/301394027 
JetBelly is a project of bassist Scott Montgomery, based in Studio City, CA; It's #indie #powerpop #rock #folk and sometimes #psychedelic in various combinations, most of it written and recorded while traveling. Scott takes a guitar, recording interface and a Neumann TLM107 mic pretty much anywhere in the world, if they'll let it on the plane, so songs or pieces of songs have been recorded in odd corners of Nashville and Paris, Providence and Provence, Kauai and St Martin and dozens of other cities. Mostly in rentals and hotel rooms.

JetBelly

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