Lyrics:
How is it you feel? I remember you and the top of my room. All these things we wondered how to hide. See how it works when... All the day long in a bottle of mud. All these fears, we wondered how to hide our love.

How is it you feel when you run? Ships won't come in, in a bottle of mud. All this time looking for love and you want to find peace, and you find me. Mandrary fields where we'll run, see how it works with a bottle of rum. All this time hiding from death and we want to be strong but we find the true story: a tale, writing itself as we sale. A story, a tale, writing itself as we wail, oh no.

Never again my deal should we come dancing here. We'll play guitar and video games. What if we refuse to follow the rules of fashion? Tell me something you'd tell a fool. Ways to refuse to follow the rules of fashion.

How is it you feel then? I remember you and the top of my room. All these things remade me and caused to be something grand.

Never again shall we go dancing in the sea. We'll play guitar for a new, we'll play guitar for a new, we'll play guitar and video games. What if we refuse to follow the rules of fashion? Tell me something you'd tell a fool. Ways to refuse to follow the rules of fashion.

Guitar and Video Games (Acoustic Cover of Sunny Day Real Estate, 1998)

Lyrics:
It's so relieving to know that you're leaving as soon as you get paid. It's so relaxing to hear that you're asking whenever you get your way. It's so soothing to know that you'll sue me, it's starting to sound the same.

I miss the comfort in being sad. I miss the comfort in being sad. I miss the comfort in being sad.

In her false witness, I hope you're still with us to see if they float or drown. Our favorite patient, in her display of patience, disease-covered Puget Sound. She'll come back as fire to burn all the liars, leave a blanket of ash on the ground.

I miss the comfort in being sad. I miss the comfort in being sad. I miss the comfort in being sad.

Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle (Acoustic Cover of Nirvana, 1994)

This was done in the wrong time signature but I went through with it anyway. I think it sounds kind of pleasant.

Lyrics:
You get the car, I'll get the night off. You'll get the chance to take the world apart and figure out how it works. Don't let me know what you find out.

I need a car, you need a guide who needs a map. If I don't die or worse, I'm gonna need a nap. At best I'll be asleep when you get back.

I wanna see it when you find out what comets, stars, and moons are all about. I want to see their faces turn to backs of heads and slowly get smaller. I wanna see it now, I wanna see it now.

I want specifics on the general idea. I want to think what I should know. Want you to do me what to show.

I wanna see movies of my dreams, I wanna see movies of my dreams. I wanna see movies of my dreams, I wanna see movies of my dreams.

I want to see it when you "fly up" on a cloudy breezy desert afternoon. I want to see it un-tame itself and break its owner. I want to see it now. I wanna see it now.

Car (Acoustic, Very Fast Time Version) (Cover of Built to Spill, 1995)

Lyrics:
Let me walk around with you and show you a town you never knew -
But heard about your whole life.
We’ll look up and we’ll look down at all the water all around,
And I can show you what I’ve found, as you tell me all about –
Your whole life.

Ya-da-da-dah-da-dah...

You’ve seen the way the light flickers on and off in my mind.
Wish you were the generator that could be there on a stormy night.
And all of the days outside in the sun, where it’s feeling nice.
I’ll sing you a song that comes from the heart –
And then, if you want, I could sing it for you twice.

Ya-da-da-dah-da-dah...

You can pretend I am your man, and, for a weekend-and-a-half,
We can pretend you're my brand-new wife.
But you’ve never been to the West Coast,
And it’s the only one that will see my ghost.
For how long I’ve known you, I’ve still never met you.
But you know, you know me better than most.

You’ve seen the way the light flickers on and off in my mind.
Wish you were the generator that could be there on a stormy night.
And all of the days outside in the sun, where it’s feeling nice.
I’ll sing you a song that comes from the heart –
And then, if you want, I could sing it for you twice.

Ya-da-da-dah-da-dah...

Take you on a boat from the train by the airport,
And I will take you home to meet my little dog.
On a winter morning, we’ll hear it blowing its horn –
As it tries its best to make it through the fog.

I’ve never been wrong to love you. –
Tell me if I was wrong to have you love me back.
If everything led to this moment,
Then here we are.

Ya-da-da-dah-da-dah...

Here We Are (New, Happy Acoustic Original - early recording)

Lyrics:
Finished up another August, only have so many left.
Can’t afford to do any more than begin to be paying back my debt.
And the roadway’s scarred with tire treads, boxes, and awkward petting zoos.
I find myself driving down lanes that have stayed the same, even as I grew.

The cars can change, but the people in them can only change so much.
The shoes they fit into, they bought when they were new -
The longer they wear them, the more they will start wearing out.
The soles will turn into holes, and they’ll have to find another pair to wear.

Starting out another August, and you have so many left.
Don’t have time to hear the kinds of lies that tell you life can lead to death.
There are times they’ll bring you flowers, in all differing amounts.
Size, shape, smell, color won’t matter – When it’s just the thought that counts.

If they bought them or grew them, or spent a lot – Does it mean they love you more?
Do you check the back of the card and hope they will not do the same?
Did you get something expensive on special, or did you still pay too much? 
How will you ever know, if you have never paid enough?

Finished up another August, only have another three.
You’ve planned out the nicest service that you’ll never get to see.
You would love to stay and mingle with the people who attend.
But at least you have the closest seat for hearing the sermon.

I have the closest seat to hear myself thinking about these things.
You’re the only one you can’t perceive.
Running around doing opposites of what you think your faults might be.
You’re the only one you can’t perceive.

You’ll always have another August, if you stick around and see.
Another Autumn after - and a Winter, followed by the Spring.
Summer comes around again, the start of something new…
Then the end of something new will happen, too.

August (New, super-early recording)

Lyrics:

They said, "You keep your money, and we'll keep our booze
Behind the bar, sweetheart, - That's where you'd better
Be keeping your car.
She wasn't happy, but she paid off her tab,
Now she's staggering all the way back home.

They said, "You keep your money, and we'll keep our booze
Behind the bar, sweetheart, - That's where you'd better
Be leaving your car.
She wasn't happy, but she paid up her tab,
Now she's staggered all the way back home.

I said, "Every bad decision, you let somebody else make for you.
Oh, I know. - I've been caught up in it before, too.
Better take better care of your life,
You've got so little left now to lose.

She said, "Sugar, I've lived a harder life than you'll ever know,
And I've seen more of it than you will ever see of your own toes.
I'm what you get when you take all the petals off of a rose.
Oh, but aren't you interesting?"

[whistle solo]

She gave me her number, but I didn't get her name.
I decided - If I called, she'd know how to get ahold of me.
So I didn't, but I hope she's okay.
Although maybe I don't need to know.

She gave me her number, but I didn't get her name.
I decided - If I called, she'd know how to get ahold of me.
So I didn't, but I hope she's okay.
Even though maybe I don't need to know.

-

They said, "You keep your money, and we'll keep our booze
Behind the bar, sweetheart, - That's where you'd better
Be keeping your car.
She wasn't happy, but she paid off her tab,
And staggered all the way back home.

I said, "Every bad decision, you let somebody else make for you.
Oh, I know. - I've been caught up in it before, too.
Better take better care of your life,
You've got so little left now to lose.

She said, "Sugar, I've lived a harder life than you'll ever know,
And I've seen more of it than you will ever see of your own toes.
I'm what you get when you take all the petals off of a rose.
I'm what's left when you take all the petals off of a rose.
I'm what you get when you take all the petals off of a rose.
Oh, but aren't you interesting?"

No Album

Oh, But Aren't You Interesting? (early recording)

Lyrics:
Tell a different story of the Earth.
Tell us all now, how it used to be.
Your dreams are separated at birth,
And there is nothing written in your history.

Except for scribblings on the page,
All spread out in some undecipherable scrawl.
As your practices change with age,
Maybe you'll understand why you do them all.

I walk these corridors in dreams,
Even after I thought my time was done.
Remember the laughter and things
It seems they shouted to try to bring me down.

And it worked for a while, I guess.
I never was the kind to know how to make it stop.
But you can only run away from life so long,
You give it enough time, it finally catches up.

But I'm leaving it all behind:
What someone regrets or forgets won't bother me.
Just find out what makes you strong;
And you can work through anything that limits you.

Once I tried to reach you, but I could not keep the grasp.
Once I tried to reach you. But my grip, it could not last.
Oh, my grip, it could not last.

Let life's lessons teach you - your new part and how it goes.
When it comes time to play it, you'll know how it goes.
You'll know how it goes. You'll see how it goes.

You'll See How It Goes (rough recording - I've since changed melodies, so listen at your own peril!)

Lyrics:
When I walked around and listened to music, I gained wisdom from heroes of not long ago,
On streets whose names I likely didn't know, placed down by men of the same.
(It's nice when it's not raining.)

Gravel trails and muddy grass; walk by and make way for the cyclist riding past.
The bench makes the role of the one sitting down on it; time makes the strength for getting up from their rest.
(Sit a while and listen.)

She climbed up the hill and waited for traffic, saw from the sidewalk the highway moving below.
The little cars' occupants traveled for miles without thought of the people who came there before.
(It's now a different version.)

Another month ends from a minute of difference, another month starts from a second before.
Anyone out there can go make a difference, if only they know what they're making it for.
(Some has come and gone, more has yet to come. -
You cannot take a breath, without changing it a little bit.)

Seattle (Elliott Bay / Denny Way) [Preview - just got a mixer]

Lyrics:
"Pass It On" written by Sophia Fay, 2018

Everything you do has a chance to bring someone else happiness, happiness.
So I'll give what little I have, hoping that you will give some back,
In your own way.

Whatever it is, you can make a difference.
Even a little is more than nothing.
We all can give just a little something,
To make a brighter day.

If you don't have much, I'll take what you've got,
And give what I have, though it's not a lot.
I'll do what I can, make a little change.
Lend a helping hand, brighten someone's day.

I will sing you this song,
If you could pass it on. On.
If you could pass it on. On.

Everything you do leaves a mark:
Brightens something or makes it dark, makes it dark.
So I'll shine like a light for you,
If you promise you'll do it, too, in your own way.

Whatever it is, you can make a difference.
Even a little is more than nothing.
We all can give just a little something,
To make a brighter day.

If you don't have much, I'll take what you've got,
And give what I have, though it's not a lot.
I'll do what I can, make a little change.
Lend a helping hand, brighten someone's day.

I will sing you this song,
If you could pass it on. On.
If you could pass it on. On.

"Pass It On" - my cover/interpretation of my friend Sophia Fay's new original

Lyrics: (by Courtney Barnett, 2015 - "Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit")

Oliver Paul, twenty years old -
Thick head of hair, worries he's going bald.

Wakes up, at quarter past nine. -
Fare-evades his way down the 96 tram line.
Breakfast on the run again, - he's well aware:
He's dropping soy linseed Vegemite crumbs everywhere.

Feeling sick at the sight of his computer,
He dodges his way through the Swanston commuters.
Rips off his tie, hands it to a homeless man -
Sleeping in the corner of a metro bus stand.

And he screams: "I'm not going to work today.
Going to count the minutes that the trains run late,
Sit on the grass building pyramids out of Coke cans."

Headphone wielding to the Nicholas building
He trips on a pothole that's not been filled in
He waits for an elevator, 1 to 9...
A lady walks in and waits by his side.

Her heels are high and her bag is snakeskin.
Hair pulled so tight you can see her skeleton.
Vickers perfume on her breath,
A tortoise shell necklace between her breasts.

She looks him up and down with a botox frown
He's well used to that look by now.

The elevator dings and they awkwardly step in.
Their fingers touch on the Rooftop button.

"Don't jump little boy, don't jump off that roof
You've got your whole life ahead of you.
You're still in your youth.
I'd give anything to have skin like you."

He said: "I think you're projecting, the way that you're feeling.
I'm not suicidal, just idling insignificantly.
I come up here for perception and clarity.
I like to imagine I'm playing SimCity.

All the people look like ants from up here.
And the wind's the only traffic you can hear."
He said: "All I ever wanted to be...
Was an elevator operator. Can you help me please?"

"Don't jump little boy, don't jump off that roof
You've got your whole life ahead of you.
You're still in your youth.
I'd give anything to have skin like you."

"Don't jump little boy, don't jump off that roof
You've got your whole life ahead of you.
You're still in your youth.
I'd give anything to have skin like you."

"Elevator Operator" (cover of Courtney Barnett song), Springtime energy!

Performed live @ Brother Don's
Tuesday, March 20, 2018

Live Cover of "Smoke Signals" (Phoebe Bridgers song) 3/20/2018

* Please forgive and see past the fact that these were all recorded on my iPhone in a small room. *

[Update: Except the most recent ones, since I now have a tiny mixer!]

Everything is done with me and my acoustic guitar, and sometimes whistling...

Martin Later

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