Nights seem dull
When you grew up watching Lloyd Dobbler 
Lift that stereo over his head
‘Til I snap out of the daydream
And remind myself he was kind of a creep
And so-called good guys don’t stand beneath windows and weep

Take a time machine to me
At age 13 and I’ll tell him melancholy chic
Ain’t really that charming but 
he’ll grow out of it someday
When he hates humans as a whole anyway
Yet some withered ghost of Frank Capra still wails deep in my veins 

I got a heart like a cake: kinda stale, but ok
I’ll save a slice for you all the same
You’d never wolf it all down,
But you’ll keep some around
A joie de vivre for the battleground 

Life sifts by
and I can’t remember the last time 
I shed a tear for Maude and her final line
We both might look forward to sleeping
And covet an hour to stare through the tv’s blue light
But it’s the moments you reach for my side of the bed at night

If we had gone to the same school
In junior high
Then I’d like to think I would have found you
Two weirdos with a war cry

With that amusement park head
Wide awake in the bed
A roller coaster of things you said
I strapped in tight long ago
Fuck if it don’t feel like home
No need to ride this thing all alone

I spent years and years destroying the Kevin Arnold in me
But I’m still that guy who means what he says even if it’s clumsy
Jaded and sour within
But I’m looking for sparks again
God damn it I’m gonna be exuberant

My movie magic still gleams
Somewhere back in the beams
It burns brighter on the proper screen
What if it’s fine to be still?
Not every moment’s a thrill
Who said I have to be Pecos Bill?
We got a dream like a jigsaw
Still finding pieces that fit wrong
Every so often we start over from corner one
I’m just so glad it’s still your face  
Walking up to the doorway
Chiming your keys at the end of every day

Frankie & His Fingers - Cake Heart

I am basically a conduit
For the word of a snake charmer
And I cut a crooked blue silhouette 
On the seams of your diamond armor
This could go a couple different ways
Here, would you try this mouth guard on?
Or if you strike I’ll flex my phantom brawn

Winning others over since The Challenger took flight
Winning others over but it doesn’t make me the good guy
Winning others over shouldn’t be so prime

Someone showed someone a spreadsheet
And reduced us to fractions 
And now we’re supposed to turn and treat them like our power to bask in
Hey, I don’t know about you
But I’m having the damndest time getting this chainsaw started
So thank goodness that the trees have parted

Winning others over like a salesman with a craze
Winning others over but it doesn’t last the moon phase
Winning others over is a gauzy praise

Go ahead
Take that sticker
And stick it on your forehead
For human kind to see
Why is it just so hard
To be the you you are 
And not the version you wish you could be

Frankie & His Fingers - W.O.O

I’ll take it too hard
And you won’t even notice 
From afar
The snapshot you keep in your head
It’s a caricature of me at an apex
And the court objects
They all come for you
And they tell themselves someone shows up for me too
But I’m making powerpop records for an empty room
And all of these threads start to fray
I can feel them wilt and wither
Why the hell do I need so many anyway

Let’s just let go like we’re losing a bet
‘Cause this is hardly the time or the place
To fume like a cigarette
And you can sing my acclaim when they mention my name
I’ll be here twitching just a little but
I’m itching just a little bit for fabled days:
To just feel same

It took a few decades
But I finally get it
I’m a mess
Collect enough surrogates 
And I won’t even notice that they left
What if I stopped showing up
What if I ceased reaching out
I’m scared everyone would just carry on and go about
Comfy with the thought of me kicking ass
Somewhere out there in a universe
They never come in contact with
No doubt

So let’s just let go like we’re losing the race
‘Cause these are hardly the ways or the words 
to make you wanna see my face
And we’ll squeeze real tight when we cross in the night
I’ll explain to furrowed brows
And you’ll explain to puzzled ears that we had fabled days
I’m pretty sure we had fabled days
I swear we had fabled days

Frankie & His Fingers - Powerpop Record

Driving up to my hometown
To help my mom tear a treehouse down
No everyone expects me to write a song about it
Who wants to hear another dude sing
About dirt roads and rusted up things
As if I grew up in a folktale and I need to shout it

Trees and trucks
Shut the fuck up
These mountains ain’t that tall
And that has to be ok
Someday

Walking slowly down main street
I kiss a lamplight and drag my feet
Curate an image of a place
And pretend it’s around me

Ghosts and grit
Who gives a shit
My story only shines for me 
And that has to be ok
Someday

On the way back down 30 South
I call your name out
‘Cause I need to believe
You can hear me from the back roads
And if I go real slow
I might grab a look-see
As you turn your Chevy 
On to 28 and I’ll speed up
As my heart sinks down
‘Cause I think if I catch you
I can keep you
But I can’t
It all makes sense now
I don’t miss this town a bit
I just let a part of me think you still live in it

Frankie & His Fingers - The Greatest Hometown Song Ever Written

Please atone for your party foul
Leave alone while you can shimmy out
Part the seas of your own ennui
And walk down the street with Disney Channel Dignity and be
Like the kids on TV

Disconnect all the simple lines
Lace your wounds with a length of twine and believe
That people wanna be like you
When it’s not your call what they should or shouldn’t do
It’s true
Be cool

Just put that speech in your pocket and listen
You’re only one in a billion
So try to be human
Just kick that soap box out from under
Kid, don’t it make you wonder
If the lightning is worth all the thunder

“Years ago” is a mantra now
Say it more and say it kinda loud
Tell the mirror you can see things clearer
And do a double-take as your doppelganger sneers
You’re a grown up adult with a level head
You clean your towels and you make your bed, sure
But why do you act like your youth is dead
The day will come when you wish you were this age instead

Just put that tongue in your fingers and hold it
Let’s act out the story like you told it
No one is old yet
Just kiss your stars like you’ve always been lucky
Your name won’t be on the marquee
But you get a front row seat

Hey, you came!
You showed up, now go away
This is a sacred place
Only beamers have the green light to stay
Oh no, you don’t have to go!
I was only trying to balance a ratio
You can’t be cocky, but you can’t be low
Wipe that frown off your face
But don’t look too glad though

Please atone for your over-thought
Jeez, you sure do say those words a lot
Don’t you think they would’ve all forgot
It’s a the past and it’s not an 80s movie plot

Frankie & His Fingers - Sad To Let You Down Like This

From the upcoming LP "Universal Hurt" out on SubFamily Records March 26th, 2021.

LYRICS:

Could you put another movie on the tube
I’m awake and I’m racing
Thoughts are stuck pacing
I could turn the volume all the way down 
And you can sleep when you wanna
Not sure I’m gonna

Just remembered all the problems in the world
How the hell do I fix ‘em?
Can’t we just nix them?
Just recalled that I promised my mom
I’d be famous by now
And I’d buy her a house

Take this how you want to
But I’m a lost boy

Sing like you’re losing your lungs
It’s a song that once mattered
The clue we last heard
Unlock a little secret in a heart
That was fading deep down
Before we reach town

I’ve got little to lose
Let’s be happy

Cut me
A piece of that pie
I feel like I might scream
And I’m not sure why
Excuse you
This is what I’m used to
Distract me good
And let’s pretend I’ve pulled through

And if the part of you that still pines
Feels like a worn out Tilt-A-Whirl
Maybe we grease the gears and redefine
Look for an oyster, not a pearl

Breath in 
While we still can
Let’s go somewhere out state this weekend
Use this
Before it’s useless
A swell in our idle adventurousness 

Breath out
Let’s take this back route
I ain’t gone this way since I was a Cub Scout
Let’s try to let go
Of what we can’t know
I think if we turn left here there a new road

Frankie & His Fingers - Gene Kelly & The Truck My Dad Built

I heard that Steely Dan song at the dollar store and it just lit me up
I said to myself “I ain’t even got any kids, so what the fuck?”
Is it time to buy a party boat and move to Connecticut
Or maybe pump the breaks a bit

Save your sighs
Drown your hows and whys
Circumvent the rational
Stack the deck until your glass is full

I pressed pause on my fashion sense when I was 26
Maybe if I walk around looking like it’s 2012 I can fool the kids
Maybe this is much sadder than accepting I’m fatter and just leaning into quiet night and buying things

Save your grief
Drown your core beliefs
Circumvent the rational
Hog the well until your glass is full

(Celebrate resignation...)

Stage one: shock and denial
Stage two: conquer the troll lifestyle
Stage three: anger and bargain
Stage four: watching a Golden Girls rerun
Stage five: holding a vigil
Stage six: a Dorian Grey-like sigil
Stage seven: acceptance and hope
Stage eight: chasing the dopamine to cope

Save your strain
Drown your guilt and shame
Void the unavoidable
Have a ball until your heart is full
Save your sorrow
Do the thing tomorrow
Circumvent the albatross
Just act like you meant to get lost

Frankie & His Fingers - Celebrate

Co-op record label formed in 2017 by a circle of musical collaborators in New York’s mid-Hudson Valley (Kingston, Woodstock, New Paltz). SFR has released 11 records to date, a long with a series of artist profile videos. Also curated live shows in Kingston NY back in the live music days. Find us on Bandcamp for complete catalog. Check out new music from Frankie and His Fingers and from Seed Project.