Complete Lyrics
Tracks 1-14 Lyrics Copyright 2009 Andrew Eckel
Track 15 Lyrics by Joe De Lucia / 2009 Public Domain.

( Main Album Page / Album Description / Short Clips of Every Track / Credits / Lyrics / Stream Some Tracks )

1. 1.9
Some article said friendship has changed.
We used to be more outgoing.
Oh it's strange -- changes, fads, and trends.

The way things are now there's more left to fate.
We don't learn to dance and don't ask girls on dates.
1.9 close friends.

2. Everything's Coming Down Roses
       There's a game called Graveyard that's played under the bleachers, and the few players are spoken of at drinking parties with a
hushed reverence; praised under-the-radar at formal dances; and mimicked in half-darkened living rooms in nervous rehearsals of
flirtation. There are those who are asked by relatives: Have you gone down there when the lights are off, when the crickets and lawn
sprinklers compete for your ears, and you can pee on Main Street? What they know they're not telling, and what they're telling they
don't know.
       In a way, we're standing buried under a gold mine. We need to get out but leave a trail of bread crumbs. The two of us have a real
special problem together, a rough gem of a time, a blessed sticky situation, a gift of a damned-if-ya-do, damned-if-ya-don't tangle, a
quaint little corner into which we've painted ourselves, our very own serious jam, a roped-off section of heaven in the form of a totally
messy catastrophe. When you asked me what took me so long to start charming you, I couldn't believe you didn't know you were
blacklisted (and still are).

3. Garbage Man Strike
Garbage man strike in effect. Don't eat too many bananas unless you love the way the peels smell in the morning as you're waiting for
the bus to take you to your job where half the people are on strike until Donovan McKenfrey and the union boss of the Every Other
Worker's Union come to some kind of deal or until their trash piles high enough that they'll come to work just to escape their smelly
neighborhoods. Meanwhile, you're doing fine anyway since half your customers belong to the Every Other Consumer's Union, which is
boycotting your product in an unusual sign of solidarity with every other worker and because your product is bananas and I'm not the
only one who's figured out the peels start to reek if they sit out on the curb in black bags like a roly-poly welcome mat for every house
on your block.

4. The Moon Over the River
The moon over the river, Mooninite bomb scare -- here eat this; I thought you were hungry. They weren't really bombs, but they
did "blow up" in a sense -- 7 bodies right next to where I work, 20 bodies on the Longfellow over the Charles River, and 2 million
bodies watching live on CNN, never given the chance to call in and say, "Hey I recognize that guy from TV!"/"Who, the mayor?"/"No,
the guy on the bomb flipping us the bird!" It's all about corporate greed, if by "corporate" you mean "unfortunate" and by "greed"
you mean "misunderstanding." Ah ha ha ha it wasn't us ah ho ho ho but it was funny. The culprits were rounded up, and they
described themselves as being "a little kind of freaked out." Local celebrities or local menace -- it just depends on who you ask (and
how old they are). Some wires and LEDs, a backboard and light sensor, some cops, some bomb techs, some TV news teams and
gawkers. Lite Brite, Lite Brite, first bomb I see tonight, shut down the T, quarantine the station, forbid convenience and cancel elation.
These long-haired terrorists must be stopped! (It could be a bomb!) These long-haired hippies must be stopped! (It could be a dirty
bomb!) Money well wasted, no matter who picked up the bill, and I feel sorry for the bomb techs. I'm not glad it happened, but it's a
great story, though not something I'd sing about. A family looks up at the moon over the river. Not everyone sees it the same. Kelly
sees science, angle's illusion. Dad sees what's left from where he came.

5. Hostage Song
Sitting in a family-friendly restaurant he can be seen only from above and can escape only no way whatsoever. Some onion rings
and sandwiches on sourdough bread would be lowered every six hours to keep him fed, which means not only alive but also not
completely obsessed with escape, allowing also for memories and feeling sorry for himself. Don't you start. We planned on keeping
him there, but when we all went blind we threw him a rope and asked him to explain what the hell was going on. Six men unable to
see and unwilling to leave and one unable to leave and unwilling to see all holed up in a Friendly's or a Ponderosa surrounded by cop
cars but they're all empty, our little standoff no longer relevant in our current crisis. Only those who were trapped were magically
spared from the fallout, only the seven of us aren't using the word "fallout" 'cause no one's going to make the excruciating blind trek
to the briefly notorious eatery prematurely robbed of its significance just to say, "Hey, half successful criminals: Here's what we think
is going on in the world and, oh by the way, I'll take a Fribble milkshake and/or who do I have to play Marco Polo with just to get
access to the salad bar?" For all we know, this is solely our own turn for the bizarre and we're the front page, we're the lead item,
we're the most-clicked.

6. Old Dirty Dragon
Skirted legs kicking and stretching out of a Nintendo 64 nightmare, replete with overweight ghosts, Reece's Phantoms. She dialed the
number hand-written across the cartridge, but all she got was a recorded message of what sounded like rain and Beach Boys records
being played backwards, not really a message at all, some of my friends would say, but everything's communication, even coming into
the store as it's about to close and telling the cashier to be gentle. Oh, you asked for whole? But, what's that, they handed you skim? I
never had been too impressed with whirlpools but it's them what done me in. "Come hither" looks are generally wasted on those dumb
enough to have not already come hither. If you're standing there waiting for her "hey boy" look, then I assure you they differ. I asked
for a whole paradise, but she handed me a stupid slice. The only thing Belgian about these waffles is the price. I hear you're trying to
recreate your parents' wedding photo, but you guys can't stand the way they posed. You wouldn't need a nightlight if you'd just clean
your room and learn to read with your eyes closed.

7. Hidden Bastard
When you said you'd never want to lose me,
I told you there are a lot of nice boys in Boston, and maybe I'm not one of them.
Later when I said I didn't mean it, I meant I didn't mean to say it, not that it isn't true,
So hats off to the hidden bastard.

8. Scene on a Beach
Sandy-toed girls stepping up and over 5 lobsters, 4 starfish, and a beached whale to swim in the rain with no lifeguard by moonlight
-- these girls' hearts must beat differently than mine. We, on the other hand, get soaked just by accident, laughing and watching
raindrops hit the Atlantic all the way to the horizon, and to think just this morning I worked an 8-hour shift in Upstate New York!
"We've got a great weekend ahead of us," I think to myself as flightless birds take flight.

9. Cedar Cabinet
A romantic invitation to a snow-covered cabin
had to be declined, because, (well) it shouldn't be a surprise,
everyone's got a boyfriend, and this particular one already lives in a cabin,
albeit more of a rain-covered cabin than a snowy one.
-- better hold onto that phone number just in case --
Things change, things change, things change.
"Are there any nice restaurants, in the snow, near the snow-covered cabin,
or if not, are you a good cook?"

10. Colorful Nightwatchmen
Colorful nightwatchmen carefully guarding a bunch of abstract art they neither understand nor care about, other than that they'd
hate to see it stolen, because thievery is wrong and then they'd lose their jobs and then they'd have to starve, get some new jobs,
or steal something else they used to guard and thievery is wrong, and their parents always told them never starve, so they'd have
to get new jobs, or do something wrong, or disobey their parents, an unfortunate set of last options avoidable by doing what they're
doing, which is shooting to death about five people every night who try to steal a painting by Robert Rauschenberg, a single neon light
by that other guy, or a wall by Richard Serra.

12. Pink Gypsies
The sound of running water running away from home.

Pink gypsies. Time to reorder the words of the Pledge of Allegiance. Time to re-order a first edition, signed throwaway piece of crap
copy of the first book you ever read over 1,000 pages, but all the words are from the Pledge of Allegiance. Easy to read, hard to make
into a Creamsicle, hard for a little tyke to understand all the fine type in the Pledge of Allegiance, or even the easy parts, easy for
everyone, even a common fool. What the hell am I saying with my hand over my heart? A cream circle? Coming into the cold, coming
into money, a complete waste of coming into money, a complete waste of money.

Child's play, molasses, grievous, sensual molestation. Just take the 7:05 A-Train Commuter Rail on down to the Molasses Station, but
don't get off, but don't get off while you're standing around for 5 hours in the Molasses Station trying not to think what the sixth hour
will be like, hopefully not but probably not dissimilar to a sexual smell in a place where you don't want it, like in the Molasses Station,
where you've been for half your Adult life -- with a capital A, totally different, totally differentiated from the 7-0-7-0-7:05 Computer
immigrant Rail that got you there in the first place. The 705th place winner was Joe, the sixth time you've heard his name today.

One hand slaps the other. Hungry bears! Don't say it too loud -- malls have ears. Related to the defendant, until the cops come, or
Roger Ebert selecting only the beauties. I wish I'd see her more often. A body like a pear, in a good way, being dragged off a horse and
on to one of 50 other animals, none of them any good, but you have to do your part for the war effort, by complaining about it. THIS
IS NOT A GAME OF STRENGTH. He's not exactly Gaffler, et al. but he'll have to do. Doctor, when will he be out of the cast of Hair
and into a list of frying pans in weight order? Relevancy wasn't really what he was going for, a degree in flying screwing in a light bulb.
Try me - I'm new! Let's make a deal. Honorarium food stamps bundle fun-sized.

13. Love Song to a Female Friend (Not You)
I went away to a fun new place and realized I miss you.
Every adventure I have is a story I just can't wait to tell you.
We climbed up the easy side and skied down the steep end.
I took some photos and I'll show you on the three day weekend.

Last time we met you must've had a brighter smile,
But I only noticed after you'd been gone a while.
On my last night in town, you helped me choose what to pack.
You drew a circle, when we hugged, with your finger on my back.

We've been friends for years.
I never thought I'd write you a love song.

14. Cherry Ave. Extension

15. Lucky You
In the spirit of Spring cleaning, they opened up their pasts and hung their secrets on clothespins around the room, sharing lines. Having
been found Not Guilty a few too many times, you're forced to open your future instead. Psychic stress, dumbfoundingly compounded by a
confounded compound fracture leads to a 10-hour anguish war between you and your doctor, followed by a 10-month stay at a hospital in
Japan. "Over here, we just treat your symptoms. Over there, we don't. They do." Well, they really do a heckuva job. On your trip back,
you'll ride a six-masted schooner owned by some guy who made his fortune in the gift box business, lucky you.

16. You Are My Excitement
Some people are thrilled with things I could care less about
You are my excitement. You are my enticement.
You and I need to stick together and love life so much.
I want to share my time with you. You are my excitement.

You are my one heart's joy.
I really want you by my side.
Stay with me a while.
I want to give you happiness.

You are my excitement. You are my desire. I always want the best for you.

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