The title track from my debut album of original songs, The Trouble With Time.  Written in late 2019. Produced, mixed and mastered by Brian Morris, Morris Creative Services, Mashpee, MA.  Stephen's guitar and vocal tracks recorded by Peter Russell at Hill Top Studios. p. and c. Stephen Russell. From the Grey Cat Records album, The Trouble With Time. Grey Cat 001.
Stephen Russell, Acoustic guitar and vocals.  Brian Morris, all other instruments.

He said “The trouble with time?
		It only runs in one direction.
		If you had a car like that,
		It’d never pass inspection.”

				And that’s the trouble with time.
				That is the trouble with time.
				You can take it, you can make it,
				But you’re never gonna shake it,
				That’s the trouble with time.

		It’ll steal your looks, it’ll tatter your clothes,
		Leave you lying there in your sweet repose.

				And that’s the trouble with time.
				That is the trouble with time.
				You can take it, you can make it,
				But you’re never gonna shake it,
				That’s the trouble with time.

			Well, I went to the doctor, to see what she could do.
			She said, “I’m sorry, son, but it ain’t just you.
			We’re all in this river, we’re all in the flow,
			And the only way out is with a tag on your toe.”

		Well, there’s sharks in the water, and the damned GOP
		One or the other, gonna be the death of me.

				It’s just a matter of time.
				And that’s the trouble with time.
				You can take it, you can make it,
				But you’re never gonna shake it,
				That’s the trouble with time.

		Well, I went to the graveyard to pay my respects
		I saw a man digging holes, singing, “I wonder who’s next?”

				And that’s the trouble with time.
				That is the trouble with time.
				You can take it, you can make it,
				But you’re never gonna shake it,
				That’s the trouble with time.

			Well, I went to the hoodoo man to ask his advice,
			He said, “You ain’t James Bond and you don’t live twice.
			You may be a rich man, you may be a king,
			But when your time comes it won’t mean a thing.”

		And Bobby said, “Time is a jet plane, it moves so fast.”
		I say time ain’t nothing but a pain in my ass!

				And that’s the trouble with time.
				That is the trouble with time.
				You can take it, you can make it,
				But you’re never gonna shake it,
				That’s the trouble with time.
				You can lose it, you can use it,
				But there ain’t no way to choose it,
				That’s the trouble with time.
				You can race it, you can chase it,
				But you’re gonna have to face it.
				And that’s the trouble with time. (4x)

The Trouble With Time

Track 2 from my album, The Trouble With Time.
Personnel: Stephen L. Russell, acoustic guitar and vocals; Bruce Abbott, soprano saxophone; Brian Morris, electric guitar, 2nd acoustic guitar, bass, percussion. Produced by Brian Morris. Stephen's guitar and vocal tracks engineered by Peter Russell.

Trespasser - (c. 1972) - I’ve always loved Bossa nova music and, at the time I wrote this, I was reading a lot of fantasy novels (Tolkien, Mervyn Peake, etc.) and this was my attempt to marry the one to the other.  It all began with seeing a woman with long blonde hair, wearing an even longer wool coat, of the most startling shade of deep red, crossing a street in Athens, Ohio, one wintery day.  It was the kind of day when the world seemed completely devoid of color and to have this vision come into my view was inspiring.  I have no idea who she was and I don’t think I ever saw her again but I was immediately smitten.  

		The golden haired lady of the red lands of Relalure
		Caught my eye.
		Riding through my fields looking lonely but proud and sure.
		I wonder why?
		Doesn’t she know this land is posted?
		And I don’t want ladies riding by.

		Soft, through the dew on the morning meadow she made her way,
		Called my name.
		Singing soaring songs to my sleeping shadows, she wove her spell,
		And onward came.
		“Don’t be afraid,” she said, “I’m harmless
		And I will be gone with the evening rain.”

			Tea at four.  
			Perhaps I should have made more
			But then I didn’t really know
			There’d be two.
			I think you can see
			What the years have done to me
			For I see they’ve done the same
			To you.

		Twilight and the shrouded sky weeps in sorrow to mourn the day.
		But not for me.
		Golden haired lady won’t you stay ’til the morning and share my dreams?
		“No,” said she.
		And lately at night I wake from dreams I half recall,
		Dreams of a soul I can’t set free.

Trespasser

Written by Stephen L. Russell, c.and p. 2012, 2023.
Produced by Brian Morris.
Stephen L. Russell: Acoustic guitar and vocals; Tom Leidenfrost: Accordion, recorded at Night Owl Studio, Yarmouth, MA; Brian Morris: keyboards, bass, percussion, and harmony vocals.

  This is a mostly true story about my brother Michael, who was two and a half years my senior and who would, indeed, get up early and go on rounds with the milkman, a genial soul named Perry.  My cousin Cherie, who lived next door to us, told me that she would occasionally ride with the milkman, too.

Michael wakes up early, Michael runs downstairs,
	And he’s pulling on his hat and boots, the worn-out, hand-me-down pair.
	And he’s standing on the corner, with his coat zipped up to his chin.
	And around the block comes an old white truck  and the man says, “Jump on in.”

	It’s a cold December morning, it’s an hour before dawn.
	The moon’s still high in the Northern sky and the street light’s are all on.
	He sits high above the avenue as the snow comes tumbling down
	Then Michael and the Milkman go riding through the town.

			And it’s two pints for the painter, a quart for the quarryman.
			And it looks like Mrs. Adrian is just a little bit short again.
			When the streets are all deserted 
			And there’s no one else around
			Michael and the Milkman 
			Go riding through the town.

	And he knows all of the houses, who wants what and where.
	And he knows the feel of the galvanized steel boxes on the backstairs.
	And he sweeps the snow off with his sleeve, and he lifts the heavy lid,
	And he never breaks a bottle and the man says, “Good job, kid!”

			Repeat Chorus

	On the Allegheny foothills the day begins to break, 
	The bedroom lights start blinking on as the town begins to wake.
	He drops the boy back home again and he give the kid his pay
	 — Half a pint of chocolate  — then the old truck pulls away.

		And it’s two pints for the painter, a quart for the quarryman.
		He says, “Sometimes it seems this whole damn town 
		Is just a little bit short again.”
		When the streets are all deserted and there’s no one else around
		Michael and the Milkman 
		Go riding through the town.
		And When the streets are all deserted and there’s no one else around
		Michael and the Milkman 
		Go riding through the town.

Michael And The Milkman

This Old Glass Heart, Words and music by Stephen L. Russell, c. 2019, 2023.

Produced, mixed and mastered by Brian Morris, Morris Creative Services.  Stephen's vocals and guitars recorded and engineered by Peter Russell, Hill Top Studios.  

Stephen L. Russell, Acoustic guitar and vocals;  Kevin Maul, pedal steel;
Brian Morris, drums, bass, all other instruments.

You smiled that smile, like other times,
	But then those eyes I know so well,
	Your eyes would not meet mine.
	You took the blame, said I’d be fine,
	And when you left you took my world
	And only left behind:

		Chorus: This old glass heart,
			Deep shade of blue.
			This old glass heart,
			No longer new.
			Now cracked and crazed 
			A softer hue,
			This old glass heart 
			I gave to you.

	In Mexico, some years before,
	We walked those streets of cobblestone, 
	And stopped into a little store.
	It caught your eye, A flash of blue
	This old glass heart, 
	It called to you.

		They wrapped it up in newspaper and tied it with some string.
		And yesterday I found it in a drawer with other things,
		Long discarded, long forgotten, long ago you said
		You’d keep this heart forever.
		How could we know, how could we know, 
		All that lay ahead?

	Those angry words, Those “I don’t care”s
	Those nights I stayed up late listening for, 
	Your footsteps on the stairs
	And now you say that I’ll be fine.
	And this old heart?     
	I guess it’s mine.

This Old Glass Heart

Dance With the Dancer. c and p. 1983, 2023. Stephen L. Russell
Words and Music by Stephen L. Russell
Produced by Brian Morris.
Stephen L. Russell: Vocals, Acoustic guitars, (steel and nylon string)
Barbara Walker Moynihan: Harmony vocals
Rick Arnoldi: Electric lead guitar
Tom Leidenfrost: Accordion
Brian Morris: Rhythm guitar, keyboards, bass, percussion.

Recorded at Night Owl Studio, The Cultural Center of Cape Cod, Yarmouth, MA.

Barbara Moynihan's vocals recorded at at The Green Room, Rochester, NY, Engineered by Matthew J Ramerman.

With thanks to Walter Ehresman and Snipe Bog Studios, San Miguel de Allende, GTO, Mexico and Peter Russell.

For Elaine

She was a phantom, a thief, an angel, a rainbow dancer.
She had a worldly innocence that seemed to enhance her.
And how could I reason with such a smile
When she hastened to call me, dancing all the while?

She had on velvet shoes, that much I remember,
And a breeze that blew through the café spoke of early September.
And the fatal moment was when the music began
And I joined the dancer to dance as long as two dancers can.

		Chorus:  Begin again, tell the band to begin again.
		I want to dance with the dancer as long as two dancers can.

And there were so few words were spoke that night in whispers.
And I don’t know if I even kissed her.
A kiss might have broken the spell, we just couldn’t take that chance.
And there was no need to talk for the language of the dance.

		Chorus: Begin again, tell the band to begin again.
		I want to dance with the dancer as long as two dancers can.

Instrumental break

Out of the bar and into the starry night we went dancing.
Dancing and dancing and dancing and dancing and dancing.
I couldn’t have stopped if I wanted, though, God knows, I wanted to stay,
To stay and dance with the dancer as long as two dancers may.

		Last Chorus:  Begin again, tell the band to begin again.
		Begin again, let the band, now, begin again,
		Begin again, tell the boys to begin again.
		I want to dance with the dancer as long as two dancers can.
		I want to dance with the dancer as long as two dancers can.

Dance With The Dancer

Somebody Lookin' For Someone, words and music  by Stephen L. Russell. c. and p. 2017, 2023.
Track 6 from the Grey Cat Records album, The Trouble With Time, c. 2023
Produced by Brian Morris
Stephen's acoustic guitar and vocals engineered by Peter Russell

Acoustic guitar: Stephen L. Russell
Vocals: Stephen L. Russell
Oboe: Carolina Prado
Harmony vocals: Brian Morris and Janet Leahey
Strings and all other instruments: Brian Morris

 This was inspired by a passage in a novel by the Newfoundland writer Lisa Moore. In her book, February, a character remembers checking in to a hotel room and finding the message light on the phone in the room blinking. 

 	   “ … there had been messages on the phone from everyone who had ever called in to the room.  For some reason the messages had never been erased, and one night he had listened to perhaps two hundred messages, some of them in foreign languages. He had just broken up with Sophie for good. All of the messages were full of the kind of voice people use when they are talking to a machine: dislocated longing, tentative, mildly regretful. Children called to talk to their dads. Girlfriends said ordinary things in sexy voices. Someone had to pick up an entertainment center at Sears. A man named Tony had to use a go forward strategy. A very young child said, Nighty-night. Someone’s 	father had stabilized for the evening. Someone’s plane was delayed. John had pressed his forehead to the cold glass, looking down at the cars fifteen floors below, and watched the fat snowflakes fall from a grey sky, and he missed his mother and he missed his sisters and he was in love with Sophie, but it had taken breaking up with her to find that out.” 

Quote from February by Lisa Moore used by permission of the author.

In a hotel room in Toronto, or maybe it was Montreal,
The bedside phone was flashing, as if somebody had called.
And I picked up to listen, as the voices followed one by one,
Message after message, someone looking for someone.

			Somebody looking for money
			Somebody looking for love
			Someone who just wants to talk it over
			Somebody praying for help from above
			And it’s somebody calling from a pay phone
			To say they found somebody new
			It’s just somebody looking for someone
			Someone trying to get through.

“Meet me in the lobby.”  “Meet me at the bar.”
“Maybe we could meet for dinner., maybe rent a car.”
“Sorry I said the things I said.” “Sorry I didn’t call.”
“When are you gonna be coming back?”
“Are you ever coming back at all?”

			Repeat chorus.

“It’s raining in Vancouver. It rains here everyday.”
“Are you still planning on stopping by?”“I’d just like to see you, anyway.”
“Remember me from the party? You said you like the color of my dress.”
“Sorry I never got back to you.” “Sorry I’m such a mess.”

			Repeat chorus.

Somebody Lookin' For Someone

Don Lupe, Words and Music p. and c. 2017, 2023 by Stephen L. Russell

	For Javier Roblado and all the Friends of the Don Lupe Grill, San Miguel de Allende, GTO, Mexico, especially Elaine McIlroy, Ann McKenzie and Gregg Humphreys.
Produced by Brian Morris
Stephen L. Russell, Acoustic guitar and vocals.
Brian Morris, all other instruments.
Brian Morris, Janet Leahey, Rick Arnoldi, Tom Leidenfrost, Elaine McIlroy and the Nick Valentine Chorale, background vocals and handclaps.  Recorded at Night Owl studios, Yarmouth, MA.

                One quiet Monday evening in San Miguel
		I was feeling kind of hungry and my baby was as well.
		We stopped in to a place to get a drink and a bite
		And ended up staying all of the night.

			At Don Lupe, At Don Lupe
			You come for an hour but then you stay and stay
			That’s all right, you’re welcome anyway,     
			Bienvenidos a Don Lupe!

		There were lots of friendly people and the food was fine,
		Enchiladas, quesadillas, cervezas and wine.
		And when my baby saw the menu she said,  “Man, oh man!
		An entire separate page for us vegetarians!”   

			Repeat Chorus

		Then Spider and Rolando began to play 
		Big Bill’s blues, “I Got the Keys to the Highway”
		And the love of the music was in everyone’s eyes
		Then Spider announced, “Ya gotta hear these guys!”

		And a dozen different players from all over town
		Stepped up to the mic and laid their songs down.
		Some of the old songs and some brand new
		Until the whole damn crowd was singing, too .

			Chorus

BRIDGE: 	“Great atmosphere, Great people, 
		Great food, Making friends		     
		Ambiente bueno , Gente buena, 
		Comida buena, Haciendo amigos!  (photo of sign)
	
			Chorus

		And Cesar made everybody feel at home,
		While Dylan danced with a gringa in from Rome,
		And Monica mixed, and Kevin got ‘em clear,
		And at the end of the night we all sang “Free Beer.” 
		(Shout) FREE BEER!

			Chorus

		(Slower) But there was one more song before the night was done
		When Javier stepped up to the microphone
		And sang a beautiful bolero so sweet and so high
		And that place and that song hung the stars in the sky. 

			Chorus (2x)

Don Lupe

Halfway There, Words and Music by Stephen L. Russell, p. and c. 2011, 2023
Produced by Brian Morris.  Mixed and Mastered by Brian Morris.

Stephen L. Russell, Acoustic Guitar and Vocals.
Jessie Morgan, Violin.
Brian Morris, Electric guitar, bass, drums and harmony vocals.
Peter Russell, Recording Engineer.

Out on the end of Main Street
Out on the edge of town,
There’s an old vine covered tower,
Partly fallen down,
And it held aloft a siren
And its sound would pierce the air.
Each day at noon
That wailing tune
Said, “Come on, you’re halfway there.”

		Halfway there, halfway there.
		The hours that seemed so long before
		Have vanished in the air.
		Halfway there, halfway there.
		Ain’t it good to know
		When that whistle blows
		You’re already halfway there.

We would travel North in summer
And we’d pass along the way
Through a forest filled with old pine trees
Where no light had ever strayed.
And when we’d climb out of that valley
Into the summer sun’s white glare
We’d know we hadn’t far to go,
Already halfway there.

		Halfway there, halfway there.
		The miles that seemed so long before
		Have vanished in the air.
		Halfway there, halfway there.
		Ain’t it good to know
		When that whistle blows
		You’re already half way there.

			And, still, there is that push and pull,
			Is it empty, is it full?
			Will it matter at the ending of the day?
			And if we can’t agree, at least we’ll meet halfway.

		I have known the rock of ages,
		I have felt the reaping wind,
		Held a new-born baby in my arms,
		Seen a soul devoid of sin.
		I have seen the grace in letting go,
		And it’s all that I can bear.
		And the siren has gone silent,
		Now we’re more there halfway there.

				Halfway there, halfway there.
				The years that seemed so long before
				Have vanished in the air.
				Halfway there, halfway there.
				Ain’t it good to know
				When that whistle blows
				You’re already halfway there.
				And when that whistle blows
				I’ll be good to go,
				I’m already halfway there.

Halfway There

Hey, Johnny!  
Words and Music by Stephen L. Russell, p. and c. 2020, 2023
Produced by Brian Morris
Stephen Russell, Acoustic Guitar and Vocals.
Nick Suchecki, Tenor Saxophone.
Brian Morris, All Other Instruments (Lead electric guitar, keyboards, bass, drums.
Peter Russell, Drum programming.

Hey, Johnny! 
Do you remember when	
You let me skip my lesson
And took me out to lunch at the
Outside Inn?
		
	Later we went swimming
	With your girlfriend, Ginnie,
	Who was tall and pretty	
	And I lost my heart for the very first time, 	
	(She was so sublime.)

	All the way there in your car, 
	You sang the first few bars
	Of that song you knew from the radio, 
	Now how did it go?

Hey, Johnny,
You weren’t all that happy
When I skipped my lesson
‘cause you knew that Mom would be so mad,
Not to mention Dad,
That we went instead to the Outside Inn.

But you knew that teacher,
Knew he was a jerk,
And you saw me cryin’ 
So you turned around and instead we went to the Outside Inn.

	And as we drove there in your car
	You sang the first few bars 
	Of that song you knew from the radio, now, how did it go? 
	It went:	

			Be ba be ba be da ba ba da, 	
			Be ba be ba be da ba ba da.		
			Be ba be ba be da ba ba da ,	
			Be ba be ba be da ba ba da.
			Beep boo ba doo day,  ba da beep boo ba boo da doo day ba da
			Beep ba boo ba doo day ba da, 	
			Be boop ba
			I love you

Hey, Johnny, you know were my hero,
Always cool and funny,
I always wanted to be just like you.

Hey, Johnny, and I’ll tell you what:
When I say I wanted
To be just like you
All I’m really saying
Is I still do, I still do.

	Let’s go driving in your car 
	You and me and Ginnie, we’ll sing that song from long ago,
	The one we learned from the radio, it goes:
			
		Repeat Chorus

Hey, Johnny!

Climbing Mountains, Music and Lyrics by Stephen L. Russell. c. and p. 2013, 2023.

Produced by Brian Morris.
Stephen L.  Russell - Acoustic guitar and vocals.
Brian Morris - Bass

Peter Russell - Recording Engineer

                She used to climb those mountains,
		She was always the first one.
		Running, with her long legs flying;
		Laughing, leaves in her hair.
		Now she’s gone,
		Now she’s gone,
		Climbing mountains.

		I knew her from the beginning;
		She used to tell those stories.
		Driving cars, washing dishes.
		Fairy tales, washing dishes.
		Now she’s gone.
		Now she’s gone.
		Climbing mountains

		She told me everything is breaking.
		“I feel like everything is broken.
		My legs just won’t do what I want them to.
		Still I have no, I have no complaints.
		I have nothing,
		I have nothing,
		To complain about.”

		I don’t believe in Jesus,
		I don’t believe in anything at all.
		What it is is what it is, that’s all.
		That’s all.
		And yet I see her,
		I still see her, 
		Climbing mountains.

		She came here early one summer,
		She left us late in another.
		She was breathing hard,
		Like she’d been climbing mountains.
		Breathing hard, almost there.
		Now she’s gone,
		Now she’s gone,
		Climbing mountains.
		Now she’s gone,
		Fairy tales,
		Climbing mountains.

Climbing Mountains

Night Fishing, Words and Music by Stephen L. Russell, p. and c. 2015, 2023.
From the Grey Cat Records release, The Trouble With Time.
Produced, Mixed and Mastered by Brian Morris.
Stephen L. Russell, Guitar and vocals.
Jonas Hocherman, Tuba.
Brian Morris, all other instruments.

        I got a boat, you got a line,
	Got the inclination, honey? I got the time
	To go out on the lake and watch the sun go down.
	If you find yourself wishing
	For some night time fishing
	All you gotta do is come around.

	Adam and Eve, out on a raft.
	Adam caught a catfish, Evie started to laugh
	And the catfish grinned.  Evie threw it back, 
	Said, “If you’re still feeling hungry
	Slip out of your dung’rees,
	Let me whip you up a little snack.”

	Bob and Elizabeth, sittin’ by a stream,
	Robert said, “Miss Barrett, life is but a dream.”
	She said, “You gotta be kiddin’ me.  Is that the best you can do?”
	She said, “I’ll show you some dreamin’,
	Get your glasses steamin’,
	When I go night fishing with you."

	Bonnie and Clyde liked to rob banks.
	Clyde got arrested ‘cause he never did say thanks.
	They put him up in Sing-Sing but he missed his girl.
	So he stole the warden’s kayak
	And paddled off to Nyack
	Where he took her for a trip around the world.

	Diego said to Frida, “Wouldn’t you agree
	That bigote would look better if it was on me?”
	Frida didn’t like that.  She stabbed him with a palette knife.
	He said “I see it’s not a rumor,
	We share a sense of humor.
	Frida would you be my darling wife?”

	Said H.G. Wells to Rebecca West,
	“Would you like to go night fishing?  Would you be my guest?
	I got a time machine, I got a bottle of wine.”
	She said, “I don’t care for fishes
	And I’m just a bit suspicious
	You got more than fishing on your mind.”

	Johnson said to Masters, “I can see you’re in the mood,
	I can see you sort of like it when I pull your Evinrude,
	And I’m getting an idea for Chapter Twenty-Two.
	‘Cause I get a little hotter 
	When we’re naughty on the water
	And I’m out night fishing with you."

	Gimme a boat, I’ll give you a line,
	It’s the same old situation, but if you’re inclined
	To go out on the lake and watch the sun go down,
	If you find yourself wishing
	For some night time fishing
	All you gotta do is come around,
        All you gotta do is come around,
        All you gotta do ...
        Is come around.

Night Fishing

The Raven Man (or Journal of the Plague Year)
Music and Lyrics by Stephen L. Russell, p. an c. 2020, 2023

Produced by Brian Morris
Stephen L. Russell, Acoustic guitar and vocals
Brian Morris, All other instruments and effects
Peter Russell, Recording Engineer.

They follow me in the streets;
Their hands pull at my sleeves.
They wake me from my sleep
Crying,  “Mister help us, please!”
I am the Raven Man.
I do what I can.

I cut them and I bleed them,
I kneel and pretend to pray.
I sit with them through the dying hour
And see their lives slip away.
I am the Raven Man.
I do what I can.

		This time last year he was running in the field,
		Fighting with the older boys, commanding them to yield.
		Laughing with his friends at some foolish thing he’d done,
		I remember how his golden hair outshone the morning sun.

Why don’t you all just shut up?
Go home! Leave me alone!
There’s nothing more I can do,
But watch you weep and moan.
Yes, I’ll come with you,
I’ll do what I can.

		I am the Raven Man.
		I do what I can.

The Raven Man (or Journal of the Plague Year)

Glad I Got Here, Lyrics and Music by Stephen L. Russell, p. and c. 2013, 2023. From the Grey Cat Records release The Trouble With Time.

Produced by Brian Morris

Stephen Russell, Vocals and Acoustic Guitar
Brian Morris, All other instruments.

I’ve got a hole in my heart,
I got holes in my shoes,
I got everything now,
I got nothing to lose.
I could go any day
But then I always could do.
I got everything now,
I got nothing to lose.

			Chorus: So bring out the taps,
			Roll out the beer,
			Pull out the corks, fill up the glass,
			Kiss me, my dear.
			We made it this far
			And it seems pretty clear
			You get what you get;
			I’m just glad I got here.
			Glad I got here,
			Glad I got here.

		I don’t have no answers,
		I don’t even ask.
		I get up every morning,
		I get on with the task.
		I don’t see the point
		In wasting my time.
		I’m glad I got here
		And I’m doing just fine.

			Repeat Chorus
	
				Bridge: Kiss me and hold me and tell me you love me,
				Tell me there’s nothing but blue skies above me.
				Tell me the truth,  Tell me no lies,
				Hold on.

		It’s late in the year,
		We’re all goin’ South.
		I’m not singing the blues,
		I’m not down in the mouth.
		We come and we go
		And all we hold dear
		Will flower and fade.
		I’m just glad I got here.

Last Chorus: So bring out the taps,
			Roll out the beer,
			Olives are dropping, pass me my gin,
			Kiss me, my dear.
			We made it this far
			And it seems pretty clear
			You get what you get;
			I’m just glad I got here.
			Glad I got here,
			Glad I got here.
			Glad I got here,
			Glad I got here.
			Glad I got here,
			Glad I got here.

Stephen Russell - Voice

Popular tracks