07 Wish I Knew How

Well the heart
It’s an anchor
And it’s dropped
Where it lies
Gale
Can’t disturb it or
Tides
Low or high

There’s a man playing saxaphone
At the grave of his wife
This girl has overlapping corgis
So she’s got one for life
This old man cries in the middle of the street about
What he lost as a child 
Neighborhood lunatic 
We let him run wild

Because the heart
Is an anchor
Dropped
Where it lay
Gale
Can’t disturb it
Tides
Low or high

A woman kept roses
A century old
Named for a pilot
Disappeared in the cold
She no longer lives there
She tended them still
Neighborhood lunatic
But we do what we will

Well the heart
It’s an anchor
And it’s dropped
Where it lies
Gale
Can’t disturb it
Tides
Low or high

Heart
Is an anchor
Heart
is an anchor
Gale
Cant disturb it
Heart
is an anchor

The Neighborhood Lunatics

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

A desert rat from Bakersfield
 Wiped off his guitar 
And strummed away the sunset  
And made peace with the stars 
Emptied a Walgreens whiskey 
As is custom in these parts 
And slept the sleep of warriors 
Converted to the arts

At that moment in Wisconsin 
A man of just his age 
He had a fleeting memory 
Of a roadtrip and a rage 
Some things are kept a secret
 Some things just forgot
 Both hide among the meanwhiles
 And the elsewheres that we got

And I’ll carve my name in 
Antarctica 
I might make myself king 
Divine right to  Antarctica
 But I’ll still be the same

Somewhere on an island 
A woman far from home 
Exiled from the calendar
And the histories she owns
 Notices a black bird 
And in his wild yellow eye 
There seems to be a memory 
Of a roadtrip and a rye

Within the sounds of rushing surf 
Voices whisper black 
They make their accusations 
And she can’t answer back
Because
Some things are a secret 
Some things are forgot
Both hide among the meanwhiles 
And the elsewheres that we got

And I’ll carve your name in  
Antarctica
 Gonna plant me a tree
I’ll make big plans for Antarctica 
Be epic, you’ll see

One by one they disappeared
The woman left us last 
Made past a hundred years 
And it still goes mighty fast 
Sometimes she roosts and fixes  
A wild yellow eye 
Ocean whispers secrets
 You can hear them if you try

And I’ll carve my name in
 Antarctica 
Might make my self king
 Divine right to Antarctica 
But I’ll still be the same

Some things they are a secret 
Some things just forgot
 Both hide among the meanwhiles 
And the elsewheres that we got 
A teenager from Bakersfield 
Wiped off his guitar 
And strummed away the sunset  
And made peace with the stars

And I’ll carve my name in
Antartica
I might make my self king
Divine right to
Antarctica
But I’ll still be the same

Meanwhile Antarctica

Taper taper
Burning down
I got some more I can stick around
It's getting dark
But it gets dark early now

Left the family half past one
Had to get back get a few things done
Used to be a pit but
It’s a Christmas pig sty now

And I expect a visitor
A visitor

Taper taper
Burning down
Think Nat King’s the only sound
Neighbors window lights they're blinking arrhythmically

Apartments around us have emptied out
Still in sight and their insides out
Writing the candlelight and nobody knows about me

But I expect a visitor
A visitor
A visitor, she’ll be here soon
She’s making her rounds this Christmas afternoon

Taper taper
Burning down
Lights go out all over town
Sitting in a couch with a gift in the dark and warm
Headlights drive across the wall
Someone’s either stopped or stalled
Hushed in a miniture suit in a snow globe store 

But I expect a visitor
A visitor
A visitor, she’ll be here soon
She’s making her rounds this Christmas
a visitor
a visitor
A visitor, she’ll be here soon
She’s making her rounds this Christmas afternoon

@1989 Mikes Law Office

Visitor (Charlie Hopper Cover)

My Christmas Wish
It comes once a year
This is the year 
that we’ll get it right

My Christmas Wish
It comes once a year
This is the year 
that we’ll get it right

My New Years Wish
It comes once a year
This is the year 
that we’ll get it right

My New Years Gift
It comes once a year
This is the year 
that we’ll get it right

Christmas Wish (John Scot Sheets Cover)

There’s a spark
It landed on the rug
And the kid on his own put it out
With his firetruck

It leaves a mark 
And he gets beat up
While I pretend to doze
And pretty soon it’s three o’clock

On December
Twenty seventh
And I 
I Don’t move

In my head
California
Where I’m inventing excuses and futures
Where I don’t come back

Add another year, add layers to that
And until new years day seems
Nothing’s longer than

December
Twenty seventh
And I 
Don’t move

Seven whales are beached
On the couches while the bowls bleat
On the couches while the sharks feed
Searching for a heart beat

The kid with the spark and the bruises
Is asleep
The kid with the spark and the bruises 
Will repeat

December
Twenty seventh
And I 
Don’t move

December 27

Well I woke up in the morning
And I knew it wasn’t autumn
Cuz the leaves had disappeared
Someone came along and got ‘em

And obviously
The season of giving is here
If you think I’m okay
That’ll be my gift this year

Well I'm sitting at my desk
And I’m getting nothing done
Drawing faces in the margins
And a grin on every one

And obviously
This is not a brilliant career
If you think I’m okay
That can be my gift this year

Don’t need us to fill up bars
Show just how in debt we are
And I’ll come over Christmas Day
If you still think that it’s okay

Well Pavarotti’s knocking off
Ave Maria 
I’m holding up the traffic
Just-a hoping that I see ya

Taking two looks 
at every off-white cavalier
If you think I’m okay
That can be my gift this year

They don’t need us to fill up clubs like
Artificial ornamental evergreen shrubs
Got to be a cheaper way
Long as you think it’s okay

I woke up in the morning
And I knew I wasn’t autumn
Cause the leaves had disappeared
Someone came along and got ‘em

And obviously
The season of giving is here
If you think I’m okay
That can be my gift this year

©1989 Mikes Law Office

That Can Be My Gift This Year (Charlie Hopper Cover)

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)

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

Songs by John Sheets and/or Charlie Hopper
Recorded between 1986 & 1994, when it was *hard* to cheaply make a decent recording, these catchy melodies and hooky lyrics have been waiting underground, like spores. Mikes House was active during a high point of the Indianapolis indie scene, opening for bands like the northerly edition of The Vulgar Boatmen. The Indianapolis Star noted, “The band thinks it sounds like The Velvet Underground meets The Lovin’ Spoonful” and “They have a secret desire to write the perfect pop song.” Maybe so, Star. Maybe so. 
John Sheets: guitar, vocals. 
Charlie Hopper: keys, vocals. 
Scott Montgomery: bass, vocals. 
Joe Caparo: bass, briefly, before Scott. 
Von Robinson, Ted Zarras, Chris Dumke, Jeff Chapin: drums  

(Production hub for the Mikes House remaster project.)

07 Wish I Knew How

Mikes House

Related tracks