YOU KNOW YOU ARE

You’re coming in like a big shot
Oh baby you know you are
You’re just out of bed but still
You’re turning every head in this restaurant
And you’re set in the scene so perfectly
Like you’re a million miles away from me
Splashed across the heavens like a star 
You know you are

You’re popping off like a pistol
Oh baby you know you are
You’re so beautiful like a New York City debutante
And I feel like I stole you in the perfect crime
It’s like I told you I would make you mine
Though I would be satisfied just to behold you from afar
You know you are

I know the whole you
The one down deep inside
Every bit as good as gold 
I know I know just how beautiful you are
And when I hold you 
The feeling’s so sublime
I’m never going to let you go
You know that you’re my lucky star
You know you are


You Know You Are

LOOK TWICE
Brian Wilkie: Pedal Steel
Max Fontaine: Banjo

I have a photograph
A faded old image
And my daddy stands strong and proud 
Outside the house that we lived in
He’s nearly gone now
Weathered and withered
And he drowns in a chest 
Full of this dusty mountain within him

So you better look twice
Cuz around here man you can’t trust your eyes
Even the rusty old iron of these broke down old bridges 
Looks beautiful in black and white

So hand over your life
Or hand over your living
Work yourself to the bone
And die praying that you’ll be forgiven
They cut out the heart of this town
With a dirty incision
They took what they wanted 
And left her to fester and die 

So you better look twice
Cuz around here man you can’t trust your eyes
And the dance of the shadows
Plays tricks with your visions
In the darkness of the mine

And the man in his tower
He’s going to make his decision
His bottom line is his bible
And he practices his strict religion
And those open veins
Drain into the river
And the little that’s left
Somehow’s better than saying goodbye

So you better look twice
Cuz around here man you can’t trust your eyes
Even the clearest of skies can’t disguise
That the air has grown bitter

Yeah you better look twice
Grab what you can man
And run for your life
Cause that paycheck you’re waiting on
Down at the prison’s got you feeling 
Like this town’s still alive
But it isn’t


Look Twice

UNCLE JIMMY
Kelli Owens: Vocals
Rob Ruccia: Vocals

Raise a glass raise a glass raise a glass
Raise a glass tonight
Oh mercy mercy mercy 
Mercy me
And I know and I know and I know
He’s in a better place
Looking down on me
My Uncle Jimmy was a railroad man
He fought the company in seventy-four
That beat him down on Thanksgiving day
By Christmas morning he was back for more
He left his woman down in Mussel Shoals
He left his fingers on that Georgia line
Things will be different now that my Uncle Jimmy’s gone

Take me back take me back take me back
Take me back tonight
Tell me lies tell me lies of way way back in the day
And I know and I know and I know
This world’s a better place
Then the place it might have been
My Uncle Jimmy had to grow up fast
They left his daddy somewhere down in the mine
With seven brothers and sisters to feed
He went to work and left his childhood behind
My Uncle Jimmy was a wise old owl
He told the truth and let your feelings be damned
And I sure do wish that my Uncle Jimmy was here

My Uncle Jimmy was a timeless soul
Cheap cigarettes and his beer from a can
He loved to listen to that rock and roll
Sawed on the fiddle in a country band
You could take old Jimmy at his word
He kept his honor in the shake of his hand
And I sure do wish that my Uncle Jimmy was here


Uncle Jimmy

LOVE BY ANY OTHER NAME
Brian Wilkie: Acoustic Guitar

Pure and plain
Softer than a flower pedal in the rain
Did he catch your cornered eye
Think you think that you would die
Feelings felt so closely held
Not fit for you or I

Did they see the way you blushed
Dismiss it as a crush
Tell you that you’re just a girl 
And it won’t amount to much
They don’t know what they’re speaking of
Cause that’s love
Love by any other name

Taught and tame
Picture perfect pair
For a photo in a frame
And you knew he was the one
You can see it in your son
If it stays like this for long 
You might forget your maiden name
It’s not perfect all the time
But gets better everyday
And the truth is that you wouldn’t have it any other way
Until you think you’re going to bust, man that’s love
Love by any other name.

As sure as push comes to shove
As sure as rain turns to a flood
You got to nip it at the bud
And learn to get along
As sure as iron turns to rust
And sure as mountains turn to mud
Time eventually just carries us away

What remains
Long after the fire
Long after the flame
When the mystery is gone
And that same old silly song
Is stuck up inside your head and all you want’s to be alone
There’s a feeling in your heart
That you really can’t explain
It’s like you’ve had all that you can take 
But still you’d do it all again
When you feel you lost your mind
Driven you insane
But faith and trust and memory 
And loyalty remains
And it’s such a rush that’s love
Unlike any other drug that’s love
And you’ll never get enough of that love
Love by any other name. 

Love By Any Other Name

NO BIG DEAL
Brian Wilkie: Pedal Steel

Well I can see how it is and it won’t be a problem
Wish I could say I’m surprised by the outcome
But I just ain’t that naïve.
With my memories hung in a sepia tone on a crumbling wall
So baby throw a brother a bone
To go with this bruise upon my cheek

All is fair in love and war
And there ain’t no referee
Move along there ain’t nothing here to see
And the more that you say 
To try to hide it away the more that you reveal
But it’s alright, cuz it ain’t no big deal,

Well it weren’t long ago when this story begun
When you pointed me out and said that I was the one
I didn’t know the havoc that you would wreak
Yeah I heard what you said and I’m hurt and I’m humbled
My propped up pride has taken a tumble
And the future’s looking bleak

It ain’t about what you can get
It’s about what you can keep
So say your prayers before you go to sleep

And I wouldn’t be surprised
If you’re telling those lies
For the way it makes you feel
But it’s alright, cuz it ain’t no big deal

I wore a path in a circle on the ground
It just goes on and round and round
I  can’t believe that this is real
And I won’t be to blame when I hear you complain 
To the court of last appeal
You’ll be on your knees pleading to cut me a deal
And I’m sorry to say that I’ve given away
Everything you came to steal
But it’s alright, it ain’t no big
Don’t seem right but it ain’t no
Don’t think twice it ain’t no big deal
It’s alright it ain’t no big deal.


No Big Deal

NOBODY THERE
Brian Wilkie: Pedal Steel
Kelli Owens: Vocals

I heard the sky was falling down
Didn’t care ‘til I turned around
In time to see the stratosphere crashing to the ground

Nobody’s there
And nobody cares

The desert sand the gasoline
The Roman guard the Nazarene
Judas and the kiss that would betray him in the end

Nobody’s there
And nobody cares
The Harvard yard is cool and green
Picturesque and so serene
I seems the boys and girls of Cambridge Mass
Could very well be our very last chance
Can you believe that even there they’re leashed around the neck

Nobody’s there
And nobody cares


Nobody There

GONE HOME
Kelli Owens: Vocals
Rob Ruccia: Vocals

So much time been wasted  
So much shifting and changing
That I can hardly believe it 
 It’s almost deceiving
And it’s so good to see you again  
It seems like ages
You know to me you look exactly the same 
As back in the day

And oh, I know, that it’s a long way back 
But I finally guess I’m ready to go  
I’m gone.  I’m gone home

So many one-man races 
 And all the destinies traded
It’s only me and I’m just making my bed  
For some where to lay and
And I was lonely but I’m okay now  
She’s my guardian angel
Let me lay down my worried head and cry like a baby

And oh, I know, that it’s a long way back 
But I finally guess I’m ready to go.  I’m gone.  I’m gone home

So many forms and phases  
And now the bruises have faded
And every prayer for forgiveness
Was a prayer that you wasted
And the lines on our faces 
And all this gray around the edges
I’ve been looking at myself in the mirror 
And seeing a stranger

And oh, I know, that it’s a long way back
But I finally guess I’m ready to go.  So lets go
It’s a million miles so we probably ought to get on the road
On the road
The road home


Gone Home

Sins, Luxuries and Drugs

Do it Now Basement

More of my basement project, "Sins, Luxuries, and Drugs."  An ode to my home state of Iowa.  I played all the instruments on these recording which should explain a lot.

Thomas Pace

Popular tracks