Why Do I Bother - words and music by John Gorlewski. ©1989 by John Gorlewski - All vocals, guitar, bass and Boss drum machine programming by John Gorlewski.

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Oh lord, why do I bother
Oh lord, why do I try
Cause every time I open a door, there's another, there's another
Every time I step ahead I fall behind

Well I love my wife and I never loved another
And I'd never give in to the girls I know have tried
When I think I've done the right thing and she'd be proud of her lover
How it breaks my heart to hear her say I've lied

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Well there's the kind of friend that always comes to trouble
And there's the kind of friend that makes trouble come to you
When you try to right his wrongs with a wrong, it always doubles
When you get so far behind, what can you do?

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bridge

Well, I've got the strength it takes to beat temptation
And I've got the strength to come back from a fall
But I swear that everything in God's creation
Has set its mind to make mine the worst of all

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Why Do I Bother

I Have So Much Love For The World

They All Come Back

© 2019. Music and lyrics by John Gorlewski. Rhythm guitar, bass, piano programming and drum programming by John Gorlewski. Mixed by @DaveTainer1. I am not signed to Stax Records. 

Million Dollar Idea

Well, I've been watching them move as these jobs go down
And there's a pattern of leaving all the leavings around
I see potential for a dollar if we start on the ground floor
Watching is learning

It's a necessary chore, with no time anymore
You find the last 10% everybody abhors
I can't imagine why no one's ever tried this before
Learning is working

The interest is deep and the need is so wide
Put a sign in the window and they'll line up outside
Today, can't get arrested; tomorrow, can't hide
Working is giving

There's no competition, clients or egos to cross
And it's really just time, your expense is a wash
We're already plugged in, it's a coin toss
Giving is freedom

Chorus

Ohh! Gonna write the book on a new kind of career
Ohh! Let it ride on my million dollar idea

I have a friend with a space, an unrentable mess
We can use it for a while as a business address
We just set up a phone, a mailbox and a desk
Giving is healing

I've been talking to a guy with some chatter to lend
They say nobody's gonna wanna live without it again
I'm watching online and it's starting to trend
Healing is planning

Harbor no hesitation, regret or romance
We've devoted just the better part of life to this dance
And luck is preparation running into a chance
Planning is working

I'm not gonna fret about what destiny brings
We'll be planted in the path of the pendulum's swing
Besides counting money, you don't do a thing
Working is freedom

Chorus

So Much Love for the World

Million Dollar Idea

©2019 John Gorlewski words and music by John Gorlewski. All vocals, rhythm and lead guitars, bass, and drum machine programming by John Gorlewski. Mixed by @DaveTainer1. I am not signed to Roulette Records. 

One Roller Skate

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One roller skate
About half as much fun
As two wheels on a tricycle frame
Three checkers in a chess piece game
Nothing works on me now
If I even have it anymore
C'mon over and pick me up, please
___________________________

Hatching a plot on the bus into Streator 
We'd work on the ships for a spring and then we'd drive to the coast
Whiskey was pumping, throwing a jump in
Drink until dawn with the boys til we were due at our post
Piss and vinegar powered our lives
We certainly put it to test
Now lonely days are just centered around
The early bird lunch and a rest

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Eighteen could scream at what six had to see
The fondle and kisses were enough without him slapping my ma
Lord strike me blind as I stand here, I'd find
That glass-eyed freak, full of drink, three stools down at the bar
Our dance on his head, I recall that I led,
Betrayed by the twitch of his cheek,
Now I'm mystified to recall as I try
Your name or the day of the week

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So Much Love For The World

One Roller Skate

©2019 John Gorlewski, words and music by John Gorlewski. All vocals, lead and rhythm guitar, bass, harmonica and drum machine programming by John Gorlewski. Lovingly mixed by David Thomas Baker. I am not signed to Parrot Records. 

Amy's Moving In With Me

I'm boxing up my bobble-heads, you're dripping paint on the floor
I swear
How is it that your cats will get the only room with a door?
No fair
We tell our parents that we're saving rent,
But our main intent is much more...

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Amy's moving in with me, Amy!
Amy's moving in with me, Amy!

Waiting for the bus with a lonely heart,
Every Sunday night - was the least worst part
Of leaving you
The hours were too few
Now we'll slide our bed to the window side,
And watch the snow fall into our courtyard

I've tightened up a table leg, the wobble's more than benign
I tried
We've already established that it's used, and I misread the sign
I lied
But if it works, that's just another plus,
'Cause it belongs to us, and you're mine!

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Waiting on the couch as her movie ends,
Sleepy roommate stays - now we're watching Friends
And we're rollin';
Our evening was stolen;
Now we'll take our chairs to the open stairs
To hear the storm winds blow through the tree tops;

The water pressure's feeble and it's useless for rinsing your hair
It's retro
I've spoken to the landlord, all I get is a cold, angry stare
I told you so
But we can plan around the morning hours,
Or stop taking showers; I don't care!

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Amy's Moving In With Me

Words and music by John Gorlewski © 2019 John Gorlewski. All vocals, guitars, bass, synth, and drum machine programming by John Gorlewski. Some arrangement and mixed by @DaveTainer1. I am not signed to Jay Jay records. 

The Mongol in Me

Upon the hill the horsemen assembled
Dark and cold as the storm they resembled
And like the rain and they soon began to spill

Any attempt to defend was muted
The ravaged fled and the horde had looted
Nothing left for those they didn't kill

Wary and weary from a life of clashes
Broken towns would stir in the ashes
And digging out a life to carry on

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You think that I roar through my life immune to fear?
(It's the mongol in me)
I'm raised on a tale of a lust to persevere
(It's the mongol in me)
My mother, my brother, the spiritual can see it
I dance to a song that my soul can only hear
(It's the mongol in me)
___________________________________________________

The children came and generations later
They bore the faces of the great invader
And stoked a blaze they'd never understand

Belong to the dirt like common chattel
Denied by all sides of the line they straddled
Hewn from each other, partitioned as their land

Fought for birth as nations stuttered
Viewed on Earth as political clutter
Inherit the dearth and the will to carry on

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Squeezed and oppressed by a country corrupted
Spewing free as if the hills had erupted
Blown across the world by a wayward breeze

The huddled masses arrive to no favor
Mocked and hated for all but their labor
Their isolation locked in a graven freeze

A newborn baby cries and he rages
Holds a gaze that can see across the ages
With the gift of the will to carry on

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The Mongol In Me

words and music by John Gorlewski. © 2019 John Gorlewski, All vocals, guitars, banjo, bass and drum machine programming by John Gorlewski. Mixed by David Thomas Baker. I am not signed to Atco Records. 

Doctor Fayad

When Carolina leaves January behind
There's hope in the promise of spring
With the underlying threat of a killing frost

The doctor looks from his office through the glass
A lady waits in the doorway of his class
The estranged Ms. Kwon, his spouse of seven years
He's suddenly alarmed by the countenance she wears
Dr. Fayad, Ms. Kwon
Dr. Fayad, Ms. Kwon

Immigrant son; Aleppo University
Head Director of Applied Physiology
Reviews state "easiest A you'll ever earn"
The point of his class was that everybody learn
Dr. Fayad, Ms. Kwon
Dr. Fayad, Ms. Kwon

Dr. Fayad, give me a ring
There's a meeting on funding with an opening
When the evening dies down
We'll pour out a pot of tea
You and me

University town is small enough
for everyone to know your business
And large enough for no one to care

Their new locale always fueled another fight
Resentment and jealousy darkened every night
She granted him divorce, it was easy to a fault
He allowed her to stay, and he suffered her assaults
Dr. Fayad, Ms. Kwon
Dr. Fayad, Ms. Kwon

Embarrassments of life that he prepared to endure
He never thought of being so exclusive or immured
Through silent non-compliance, she felt justified
But the specter of finality, she could not abide
Dr. Fayad, Ms. Kwon
Dr. Fayad, Ms. Kwon

Dr. Fayad, think of yourself
And the world beyond the School of Public Health
When the evening dies down
We'll pour out a pot of tea
You and me

Doctor Fayad

words and music by John Gorlewski. © 2019 John Gorlewski. All vocals, guitars, bass and drum machine programming by John Gorlewski. Mixed by David Thomas Baker. I am not signed to A&M records.

The Trouble With Love

You were gone when I awoke
My first drunk was a double-edged courtesy
Once muted wedding bells clanged in my head

While sons must leave their mothers
There's no nifty canard for their lonely little brothers
Why can't you be happy now that they're finally wed

Was it of her, or was it of you
Or jealous of the life you've grown into
The trouble with love - it's never enough when you have it all
The trouble with love - it's never enough when you have it all

My mere sadness brought derision
All you ever did together was watch the television
And he's only up the road but a mile

But our mom would warn me, Son,
You've got to leave them alone as the two become one
His most important job now is a grandchild

Now that our room's no longer shared
Our sister gets the best bedroom upstairs
The trouble with love - it's never around when you need a quorum
The trouble with love - it's never around when you need a quorum

But I've gotta stop, stop and breathe
It's really only just different he didn't leave
Oh, I've gotta stop, stop and breathe
It's gonna be better, now you've gotta believe
Oh I gotta stop, stop, refrain
Cause hurtin' is growin' and growin' is pain
Oh I gotta stop, stop, refrain
'Cause changing is the only thing that stays the same

But I sit by a silent phone
Guess I'll have to endure our family alone
Or really just endure myself

Why did you ever stop picking on me?
I could have moved along more quick and free
The trouble with love - it's a never enough when you have it all
The trouble with love - it's a never enough when you have it all

The Trouble With Love

words and music by John Gorlewski. © 2020 John Gorlewski. All vocals, guitars, bass and drum machine programming by John Gorlewski. Mixed by Dave Tainer. I am not signed to Mercury Records.

Baby Sitter

Mamma stepped out for the night so lets pop and get loaded
Open up the cabinets, inventory's out in the room

We got the corn
We got some chemicals
We got the olive oil and Pepsi
Anything we can use

We got the parts
To build a rocket ship
Got all the cardboard box and windows
All we need is a fuse

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When we're up in the air
Hold our breath, close the lights
And there's no one else

Find our house on the ground
Keep it locked, turn around
Or we'll never get back

Sneaky orange moon
Heed the clouds - if you still expect a treat tonight

Everything ages so fast we're so over the planets
Zap on the TeeVee, our party's even part of the news

You got the mic
I got the satellite
We got the MilkBone chaperone
Barking at the headlights

Of enemies
Or even friends
You have to watch for the pizza man
To drop the box again

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Sleepy men chase you down, you're no match for the muscle
Stagger to the stop sign and face the final battle of doom

You got no heart
You got no energy
You got no life in your eyes,
Can barely hold up your head

We're getting mean
We're getting ornery
You wanna slap out all the lights
And it makes you wanna scream

Oh, now it's done
You made the TeeVee mad
You gotta creep around his gaze
For he will never understand

He wants your skeleton
He wants your blood
He wants your hair for a beard
And you're aroil in the flood

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Baby Sitter

words and music by John Gorlewski. © 2020 John Gorlewski. All vocals, guitars, harmonica, bass and drum machine programming by John Gorlewski. Mixed by Dave Tainer. I am not signed to Laurie Records.

All I Have

Passing up a corn truck reminds me of a journey
(Inheritance had beckoned me out of town)
A woman I once cared for remembered me on paper
(I left to collect what grace had allowed)
Along the way, I would sleep under a grain cart

The weather posed no threat and wouldn't for a time
Any predators were long ago hunted to distraction
All a man had to fear was another man sophime

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All I have is the love of those that I trust
And the rest I can ignore
All I seek is the trust of those that I love
There's no need for any more

I took up with a family, we both were in crisis
(Me, of the spirit; their son, to the war)
I cut cane and stood guard from the eyes of the greedy
(I never left a home again, I'd so mourn)
We arrived at the town's edge, they payed and embraced me

I looked for shelter from the overwhelming sky
The office of the reading drew me in like a vacuum
I stood among those people more worthy than I

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The chairs were arranged like pews in a temple
(Prose of the letters brought tears to the wise)
To be thought of from beyond had set me on a mission
(I needed no stake, her call was my devise)
As I walked through the square, my thoughts in a jumble

A band played national songs for a somber crowd
I knelt at the statue, a patron saint of the village
The bag left at his feet, I drifted away like a cloud

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All I Have

Late of Me, John & Dave back in the 80's. Played in the Leeches for a fortnight. Missed all the scenes. Played every dive on the northwest side back in the day.

John Gorlewski

Pinned to spotlight

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