Lost in
America
Snow on the railroad tracks
Dogs in the moonlight
Stoned out on Kerouac
Tryin' to get it just right
A phone in a dim lit room
Rings out forever
In a time that was still too soon
But why should he care?
He had a rambling soul
He drank a bottle of cheap wine
Turned up his collar to the cold
And waited, he waited for a sign
Fueled by amphetamines
And visions of beauty
As far as the eye could see
Was all that he strived for
A waitress in Tennessee
Said he looked like Jesus
He silenced her raging sea
Then walked out the door
He had a rambling soul
He drank a bottle of cheap wine
Turned up his collar to the cold
And waited, he waited for a sign
Under an open sky
He stands with his eyes closed
If anyone asked him why
He would not know
He's lost in America
Hell bent for no place
A rusty harmonica
That won't even play
He's lost in America...
BILL DEASY: lead vocals, acoustic guitar
DAVE BROWN: electric guitar
ERIC RIEBLING: bass
RAY DEFADE: drums
JOHN BURGH: hammond organ
SCOTT BLASEY: background vocals
She got a tattoo of a bracelet on her wrist
The love of strangers on her Christmas list
She ain't sentimental, she don't like to reminisce
She's a champion of action
You ain't never heard her voice but that's all right
'cause you ain't never seen her face before tonight
But now you see her swaying to the left and to the right
And it rocks your whole foundation
See her spinning 'round
Blond hair falling down
You can hear the sound...
Of your heart breaking
From the love she's taking from you
The song it's making
Is like a rhapsody in blue
Well you ain't never seen no aura in your life
But you know her's is the color of the sky
When she looks at you it kills you, when she turns away you die
It's a tragic situation
So you drink one down for courage, two for soul
You drink a third for good luck, then you stroll
Out onto the dance floor, but your feet are too damn cold
And you need more insulation
See her spinning round...
Oh, she don't love you
Oh, she don't see you in the crowd
Oh, if she did she would not want you anyhow
Expectation lingers in the air
The problem is that no one else is there
Just the memory of your angel, all these ghosts in empty chairs
Making comments 'bout the weather
The taxi cab is waiting at the door
You can hear the driver blowing on his horn
So you close your eyes one last time, and you conjure up her form
And you shake it down together
See her spinning round...
BILL DEASY: lead and background vocals, acoustic guitar
DAVE BROWN: electric guitar, background vocals
ERIC RIEBLING: bass
RAY DEFADE: drums
JIM DISPIRITO: tambourine
Take the darkest of the darkest nights
Combine it with the brightest of the sun's bright rays
And you'll see what I see in my head
What I see every day
From the pit of despair
To the arch of euphoric transcendence
I'm the middle man monkey, the misery junkie
The cat walking barbed wire fences
I've been searching high and low
Up and down and carrying my heavy load
High and low and up and down and all around
Been trying to find the middle road
I been trying to find it
Whenever God shines his light
I put on my best sunglasses
Whatever truth that shines through, for a moment I view
But of course then the moment it passes
And I'm standing alone again
At the crossroads of my melodrama
With my heart in my hand, dumb and silent I stand
Like some dime store Dalai Lama
I been searching high and low...
Angel, devil, it's all the same
Each one knows me by name
Each one knows me, they all know me by name
Come the morning of my soul's dark night
When I've laid to rest these ghosts that haunt me
With sweet tenderness I will kiss your red lips
Not the past or the future shall daunt me
But that day ain't here just yet
So I'm stuck here on this roller coaster
With my hands in the air, on a wing and a prayer
Hoping it's taking me closer
I been searching high and low...
BILL DEASY: lead vocal, acoustic guitar
DAVE BROWN: electric guitar
ERIC RIEBLING: bass
RAY DEFADE: drums
JOHN BURGH: hammond b3, piano
The sunlight hits me and I shiver
I rub the sleep out of my eyes
I pull the mail box open
And hope to find a sweet surprise
I stumble back into the kitchen
I dump out last night's coffee grinds
I think the whole thing over
It's like a movie in my mind
Well they tell me
I'm gonna have to carry on without her
But I'm afraid that ain't the way I got it planned
I'm gonna take a walk today
I'll go the old familiar way
I'll walk up to her and I'll say,
"I've come to win you back Suzanne."
The beauty of this life is changing
When pressed against the cold, hard facts
The fact is I got restless
And you say you ain't coming back
So hello friendly next door neighbor
Hello bird up on the wire
The thought of her surrender
Spreads through me like a forest fire
Well they tell me...
How could you believe that you could get away from me so easy
What kind of man would let the woman of his dreams just go away
You said I'd never change before but when I knock upon your door
You'll see babe, the change in me babe
I'm on my knees babe
Looking at you from across the way
See her diamond earrings sparkle
Hear the pounding in my chest
I wish I had a dollar
For every one of my regrets
In the distance he's approaching
The ghost of who I might have been
As I walk home alone my
Memory's my only friend
Well they tell me....
BILL DEASY: vocals, acoustic guitar
DAVE BROWN: electric guitar, piano
ERIC RIEBLING: bass
RAY DEFADE: Drums
I can feel you in the crowded bar room
As I get into my car
Music playing, beads of sweat descending
Down your skin to where your secrets are
And I wanted
To go back in and kiss you
And I wanted
To taste your salty tongue
And I wanted
To feel your body moving
Feel your body move beneath me now
Feel your body move beneath me now
Fruit forbidden, one enchanted moment
Summer night a bit too long ago
You were waiting, he was late as usual
Saw you standing in your Friday clothes
And I wanted...
All my life walked the straight and narrow
Straight and narrow as a circus wire
Best friend's wife, like a poison arrow
Poison arrow filled with pure desire
Feel the chill in the air, feel her raven, black hair
Told you it had to end, can't go back again
But here I go again
Desert highway, wrap your arms around me
Desert moon, the wolves are howling now
Desert wind blow away the veil of reason
Leaving just our two hearts pounding now
And I wanted...
BILL DEASY: lead and background vocals, acoustic guitar
DAVE BROWN: electric guitar, background vocals
ERIC RIEBLING: bass
RAY DEFADE: drums
JOHN BURGH: hammond organ
JIM DISPIRITO: shakers
Well I don't know why
It makes me cry
And I don't know how we
Came to be
When I think back on
The things we done
So far away from
Where we were
And I don't know when
I'll feel again
Like this might
Be worth my while
And I don't know if
I'll ever see
Just what it is
You went running for
Got some things to do
Need some time alone
Think we'll make it through
Baby, I don't know
Taken for granted, yes and
Misunderstood
If you're going to love me girl
Well then you better love me good
It was a night like this
When I first felt your kiss
And the line was drawn
To set our dreams upon
Oh well it's hard to tell
Exactly why you fell
But just like dominos
Hit one, the whole thing goes
Was that line too high?
Or was our love a lie?
And it's a crying shame
But only you're to blame
Or were the dreams we made
Just some old game you played?
So what's the big idea
Of you crawling back to me?
Chorus
Well I don't know why it makes me cry
When I think back on the things we done
And I don't know when I'll feel again
Like this might be worth my while
Love me yeah, love me good
Love me yeah, love me good
BILL DEASY: vocals, acoustic guitar
DAVE BROWN: electric guitar
ERIC RIEBLING: bass
RAY DEFADE: Drums
JOHN BURGH: Hammond Organ
SCOTT BLASEY: Background Vocal
The crescent moon sits waxing in the clear, blue sky tonight
Joanna sits relaxing down by the riverside
The cigarette she's smoking, a symbol of her sin
The words they still ain't spoken just a' hanging in the wind
The soul is blackened by desire unprotected
The soul is weakened by love that goes neglected
The soul is drowning in a sea of sweet perfume and
Oh, lest we forget, the soul is human
Oh, lest we forget, the soul is human
What tangled webs we weave from idle speculation
A long, lost friend perceived the depth of her frustration
Beer bottle sweating, she sits peeling off the label
She'll start regretting this as soon as she is able
The soul is blackened...
Oh it's been so long
Since she felt this way
Yeah it's been so long
Since she felt anything
"Just one more minute." She whispers in the
moonlight
She's so deep in it, she cannot hold him too tight
The wheels are turning, she can feel them in the distance
With such sad yearning, hard to put up much resistance
The soul is blackened...
BILL DEASY: lead and background vocals, acoustic guitar
DAVE BROWN: electric guitar, background vocals
ERIC RIEBLING: bass
RAY DEFADE: drums
JOHN PLATANIA: electric guitar solo
Born with blue eyes filled with pain
In March of 1922
Mystic fire in your veins
Mama's apron strangling you
Mama's apron strangling you
Mama's apron strangling...
Young Jack Kerouac running up and down the football track
Are you an angel now?
Strong Jack Kerouac, once you're gone you can't come back
Are you in pain still?
Walking New York City streets
High on benzedrine and wine
On the road and feeling beat yeah
Chasing kicks and running blind
Chasing kicks and running blind
Chasing kicks and running...
Wild Jack Kerouac talking in a beat up Cadillac
Are you an angel now?
Drunk Jack Kerouac, once you're gone you can't come back no
Are you in pain still?
On a red sun Sunday afternoon
I bet you felt the wind blow through your hair
I bet you knelt down in a summer field
And said a prayer
Oh I bet you said a prayer...
In '69 you found the prize
Bloated Buddha, belly up
Ecstasy your suicide
Sorrow filled your loving cup
Sorrow filled your loving cup
Sorrow filled your loving...
Sad Jack Kerouac, sitting down beside the Merrimac
Are you an angel now?
Drunk Jack Kerouac, once you're gone you can't come back now
Are you in pain still?
Fat Jack Kerouac, stumbling along the railroad track
Are you an angel now?
Dead Jack Kerouac, once you're gone you can't come back now
Are you an angel?
Are you an angel?
BILL DEASY: lead vocals, acoustic guitar
DAVE BROWN: electric guitar
ERIC RIEBLING: bass
RAY DEFADE: drums
JOHN BURGH: hammond b3
Raised on words like "punishment" and "God will
get you
If you don't do what you're told."
Nuns turned children into fearful right
handed little
Servants of the Lord
And then the atom bomb fell down on Hiroshima, North Dakota
The year she turned sixteen
And she said, "There is something very wrong here.
Do you know what I mean? Do you know what I mean?
'Cause I got visions forming in my head
And I keep hearing what the preacher said
Said this world will be the death of me
I know it will, it's bound to be
Bound to be"
Satchel full of broken hopes and empty picture postcards
That she'd never send
Her mama sitting on the front porch step
Daddy frowning in the darkened doorway, waving his regret
Then she was jumping on the Santa Fe, summer night in 1947
Bound for God knew where
And she said, "I can see destruction fast approaching.
I feel it in the air. I feel it in the air.
And I got visions forming in my head
(See the blood on the horizon)
And I keep hearing what the preacher said
(Said the truth will set you free)
Said this world will be the death of me
(I got no one to rely on)
I know it will, it's bound to be."
(Except for me...)
On a road in Valparaiso, she met a hobo named Old John
They hunkered down in a gazebo, and chose a star to gaze upon
Old John said he could see her slipping, and he asked her what
was wrong
She said, "The rope I had been gripping turned to sand
And now it's gone, now it's gone.
Can't you see the writing on the blood soaked blue horizon
Plain as VJ day. Hear the barking of the
Drowning dogs, frozen like so many Eisenhower
Statues in Pompei. I think I'll take another taste
Old John, to numb my heart, God knows I'm falling fast as
Atoms through the sky." She said,
"This world it sure ain't no place to live in
But it ain't no place to die. No it ain't no place to
die..."
CHORUS
BILL DEASY: lead vocals, acoustic guitar
DAVE BROWN: electric guitar
ERIC RIEBLING: bass
RAY DEFADE: drums
JOANNA ITHEN: vocals ("See the blood on the horizon."
etc.)
SCOTT BLASEY & KELSEY BARBER: background vocals
The ties that bind unravelled on an August night
She left his tired love behind, in a laundromat, in black and
white
The powers that be decided it was time to let him go
So he went rolling like a tumbleweed across the desert of New
Mexico
And he goes chasing the angel of the blue sky
And he knows she will be waiting for him there
And he sees his faithful angel of the blue sky
Floating in the firmament somewhere
His Dodge gave out, he stepped into a crowded local bar
He hitched a ride to Abilene, and wondered how he'd come so far
The signs they came, the rain fell like a baby's newborn tears
He stood out on the open plain, and felt her hovering so near
And he goes...
All that time it was not wasted
It was the way it had to be
Whatever sorrow that he tasted set him free
Clear blue sky, he smiles to think she's waiting close at hand
He sets his wet clothes out to dry, then trudges toward the
promised land
Come what may, come whatever makes the world go 'round
He close his eyes up half the day, and listens for her healing
sound
And he goes...
BILL DEASY: vocal, acoustic guitar
DAVE BROWN: acoustic guitar
Destitute, desolation
Angels eyes shine upon my curse
From this mountain I make my way
Along the railroad earth
Steam train blazing a lonely hill
Damaged cargo am I
But not so damaged as not to see
The magic in the sky
Oh Midnight, Midnight Ghost
Ol' zipper rollin' down the line
Oh Midnight, Midnight Ghost
Rollin' down the line
Without a memory, without a heartache
Ain't no comfort in happiness
Tidings whispered and merciful
Are the tidings I like best
dawn twilight, skyline glowing
Mountain wind blowing through (Blowing through)
And I tug upon the jug of my redemption
Nothing much else to do
Oh Midnight, Midnight Ghost...
In a sense my innocence
Been waiting here all along
Thought I travelled so far away
But I was never even gone
Pray for me my Sweet Marie
I'm searching still for to see my sign
Rolling on to a new day
Down that midnight line
Oh Midnight, Midnight Ghost...
Destitute, desolation
Angels eyes shine upon my curse
From this mountain I make my way
Along the railroad earth
BILL DEASY: lead and background vocals, acoustic guitar
DAVE BROWN: electric guitar, piano
ERIC RIEBLING: bass
RAY DEFADE: drums
JOHN BURGH: hammond b3
JIM DISPIRITO: Tibetan meditation bowl
KELSEY BARBER & SCOTT BLASEY: background vocals
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