Released 28 September 2010
Label Rykodisc
All Songs written by Jon Auer & Ken Stringfellow (Number 23 Songs Music ASCAP/SOFT Rebellion Songs BMI) (c) 2007, 2009, 2010
Jon Auer/Matt Harris/Darius Minwalla/Ken Stringfellow
with:
Hugh Cornwell: vocal on ‘Plastic Paperbacks’ appears courtesy of HIS Records Ltd www.hughcornwell.com
Kay Hanley: vocal on ‘The Glitter Prize’
Lisa Lobsinger: vocal on ‘Licenses to Hide’
Paco Loco: vocal on ‘Enewetak’
Phil Peterson: string arrangements and cello on ‘Accidental Architecture,’ ‘Holiday Hours,’ and ‘The Glitter Prize’. trumpet on ‘Cleopatra Street,’ flugelbone on ‘So Caroline’
Recorded & Mixed by Paco Loco, Jon Auer, Ken Stringfellow, Scott Greiner, Martin Davis Kinack, Daniel Pasquel, Phil Peterson, and Michael Eisenstein at Studio Paco Loco, El Puerto de Santa Maria SPAIN; Le Domicile, Paris/Cussy-la-Colonne FRANCE; Amberson Mansion, SoDo/Seattle USA; Eminence Recording, Seattle USA; Down In The Hole, Paris FRANCE; Chillipeg-Winnewack Audio, in the woods, CANADA; La Increible Sociedad, Quito ECUADOR; The House Of Breaking Glass, Seattle USA; and The Rumpus Room, Los Angeles, USA
Mastered by Greg Calbi, Sterling Sound New York USA
A&R by Ruby Marchand for Ryko.
Financial Aid: Haber Corporation
Jon plays Gibson/Epiphone Guitars. Ken plays Gretsch guitars thru Fender Amplification. Darius plays Ludwig drums and Sabian cymbals.
01. Plastic Paperbacks
02. The Glitter Prize
03. Licenses To Hide
04. So Caroline
05. Take Care Of Yourself
06. Cleopatra Street
07. For The Ashes
08. Accidental Architecture
09. She’s Coming Down Again!
10. Notion 99
11. Holiday Hours
12. Enewetak
—
bonus track on the deluxe version:
13. The Glitter Prize (Demo)
14. Licenses to Hide (Demo)
15. Cleopatra Street (Demo)
16. For the Ashes (Bonus Track)
PLASTIC PAPERBACKS
Once I had money but now I’m far from home
Once I was loved by a woman but now there’s nothing but cold stone
I was hard, man but what was there to understand?
Along that wind, were you searching for the start of sin?
Journeys taken in search of that terrible eye
Turned over horizons under which no sun wants to lie
But that trust which comes into the thick of it
I got through that with a stack of plastic paperbacks
But to love you, oh to love you
One by one I pressed those letters in your hand
Like a Gutenberg Bible burning at midnight on the sand
You’ve been up, held where innocence has never dwelled
But that’s all right, there’s a Bible burning giving light
But to love you, oh to love you
We’ve got all night, to stare into the anthracite
The cold black flame: we’ve been burning plastic paperbacks again
THE GLITTER PRIZE
Oh, Isabella – it’s starting to snow
And I wanna know when it covers the ground
So send me a message, show me a sign
Radiate in time to the shimmering sound
Daylight
I’m ready for daylight
I’m ready to trade my darkened eyes for the glitter prize
It’s never enough to be giving it all
When you’re drawn by the call of the siren you serve
Now there’s promise for keeping and miles to go
Before the sunrise show
That I wanna see, I wanna deserve
Daylight – I’m ready for daylight
I’m ready to praise your heaven skies when the curtains rise
Daylight – I’m ready to play right
I’m ready to trade my darkened eyes for the glitter prize
Every time, every time, every time you’re around (daylight, daylight)
Every sight, every sound, every time you’re around
Fireworks reflecting on your icy flow like a fever below
And I can’t break free of the glow and the gleam
Touché, Isabella – you were always the queen
Of the dramatic scene
Now I want to shout, I want to scream
Daylight – I’m ready for daylight
I’m ready to praise your heaven skies when the curtains rise
Daylight – I’m ready to play right
I’m ready to trade my darkened eyes for the glitter prize
LICENSES TO HIDE
Who’s got into that 80s radio?
I’ve said it for sometime now
I said we should set if for sometime…now
Who’s going for that carbon dating now?
I’m feeling so old, so old, but I’m barely a teenager
Years were oversold
But let’s not forget the lives of lovers late into your life
As life continues on despite
Oh…those licenses to hide
Oh…those licenses to hide
What dynamic could heal the damage
That you did in your life?
And paint the virgins white–or not quite
What did you learn from early insolence?
The season that never ends
You were deadly and serious
This you could depend on
When will you stop those adolescent trends?
It’s funny ‘til it can’t bend
Then when it breaks it can be funny again
Let’s not forget we’re also funny when we get undressed
But darling you could use just a little less of
Oh,..those licenses to hide
Oh..those…licenses to hide
I admit and I’ll say it now that I love you, I love you
Fears, storms, and endless invasions but I’m here with you
Let’s not forget we’ve all recovered plenty of composures
And now it’s time for some exposure…of
Oh…those licenses to hide
Oh…those licenses to hide
What dynamic could heal the damage that you did in your life?
And paint the nighttime white? …or not quite.
CLEOPATRA STREET
Cleopatra Street:
Stucco ceiling with stars, stucco ceiling with stars looking over
Carpet three inches deep on the formative floors
Cleopatra Street:
Sidewalk covered in cars, sidewalk covered in cars every summer
Memories incomplete, but the feelings were ours
So you take two of everything and put it in your measuring cup
You can have the joy it brings, think you‘ve got it all sewn up
We’re like a chain gang
Chipping away at the same thing
Cleopatra Street:
I walked the same 30 yards, I walked the same 30 yards last October
It knocked me off my feet, how we reached for the stars
You and ‘Sally’ and ‘Steve’,
Me and ‘Bobby McGee’, me and ‘Bobby McGee’ taking pictures
There’s nothing left to repeat
It’ll just have to be
So you take two of everything and put it in your measuring cup
You can have the joy it brings, think you‘ve got it all sewn up
We’re like a chain gang
Chipping away at the same thing
No one could tell us how we all have to move on now
No one ever let us see every side to this divine divide
So you take two of everything and put it in your measuring cup
You can have the joy it brings, think you‘ve got it all sewn up
We’re like a chain gang
Chipping away at the same thing
Cleopatra Street:
Memories incomplete
That’ll have to be fine
TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF
Maybe you never saw much of me
As you’re creeping around your history
It’s true-I wasn’t always with you
I was so gone but you weren’t forgotten
That’s why I’ve been trying to make it up to you in later years
I hope a father’s what I am
But rationalizing’s not my aim
Just to pick you up and carry all your pain
And give you wings and not to
Always get the better of
The other side, ain’t that what you call love?
Take Care of yourself
Do everything you can so we don’t lose ya
Showing me off all your side effects
And keeping your face like a silhouette in blue
Is all we’re gonna get
But keep it in mind in your last regrets
As you’re blowing away like an untethered balloon
And drifting high forever
Is that the thing that turns you on?
To see we missed you after all you’re gone?
Take Care of Yourself….
If I said I was letting you die
Well Baby I told you a lie
Well maybe I’d tell you a lie
If only to keep you alive
You’re writing your own prescription
Riding the lines of a minor fiction
If anyone ever could spare to lose a detail
Filing your heart with the facts you’re facing
Draining away as your blood’s escaping
You could make it last forever
They say that the last time feels like pleasure
Feeling a smile from your unsuccessful…
Breathing every memory
As I’m always to prevent your harm
These words you mock me when you cut into your arms
SO CAROLINE
I can’t make another history choice
I don’t want to decide
I don’t want to get stuck where the yearbooks reside
So, Caroline
You’ll be the only friend of mine
Close enough to remain tethered and tied
So, Caroline
You’ll be the only friend of mine
I keep dreaming of a map of the world
I keep searching the sky
I keep seeing the traffic signals passing me by
So, Caroline
You’ll be the only friend of mine
Close enough to remain tethered and tied
Ain’t it so, Caroline?
You’ll be the only friend of mine
And with friends like you who needs anyone else?
With friends like you…
Took a second glance like a fighting chance when I heard your name
Such a singular favor to return then begin again
So, Caroline -You’ll be the only friend of mine
Close enough to remain tethered and tied
So, Caroline -You’ll be the only friend of mine
Ain’t it so, Caroline?
You’ll be the only friend of mine
Close enough to remain tethered and tied
Ain’t it so Caroline?
You’ll be the only friend of mine
FOR THE ASHES
First one was born then denied–will anybody get her?
Second one is learning her all lines–and the actions
Third one has been trying all her life — to get out of the ghetto
Fourth one is leaving the fire for the ashes, for the
Which fire is the fire that calls you out into the light: Indifference or spite?
First thing I’m gonna do to this town — when I get a little credit
Take my money and stick it in the ground, buy some glasses
Education prepares me for the fight, when they try to turn their words on me,
Cities turned into a refuge for the ashes, for the
Which fire is the fire that turns you to a sharper eye? Has anybody tried?
Someday I’m gonna wake up dead, I know
My breath released into the open sky
Please tighten that bandage round my head one last time
Let go of my hand and close my eyes
Time’s coming, there’s light under the door, footsteps in the exterior hallway coming with a stethoscope, a syringe
Witness, I call you all my wealth, you’re my lands
The little country of my own true blood
In this kingdom with no king, none at all
Just a daughter and a son in law
Witness can you write me down these words: my darlings take your time, cuz all things will fall, all things must fall
Think I’m gonna just sit here for awhile –gotta try to see what happened
But I’ll still stand right up to your face, and 40 lashes
I would’ve worried & worked less hard–if they ever would have told me
That I was just working all this time for ashes, for the
What fool is on the fire escape when the fire is going out is anybody’s doubt
I know it seems like nothing changes in your way, just take your time and know that all things will fall
ACCIDENTAL ARCHITECTURE
Miles of avenues,
Buildings of blocks,
Window reflections of mirrors
Compass morality,
Blueprints of thought:
Who’ll be the one to delight you?
The positive one to invite you?
Incite to be riotous in spite of it all is there room at your table to move?
There’s architecture in the way you care
With the form of a dream but reality’s ghost still there
Touched by personal Chernobyls
Just like any piece of clay
Finding more than you had planned on
Slowly shaped along the way
Towers of gravity,
Ladders of hope,
Spires of grandeur design
Armchair psychology
End of the rope,
Rapidly learning to climb
As the new elevations remind:
Who’ll be the one to release you?
The fortunate one to increase you?
Share the surprises and ring in the rises and drink to the probable you?
There’s architecture in the way you breathe
With the seed of a birth but reality won’t conceive
All the personal Titanics
Just like any ship at bay
Testing litmus every Christmas
Slowly shaped along the way
SHE’S COMING DOWN AGAIN!
She checks everything, nothing’s limiting
She’s oblivious, you’re too obvious she knows that
She knows that you love her in your own way
And it’s totally strange that you never even go with her
By the time she gets to the party she’s forgotten you
She’s Coming Down Again
It felt so good when she got high–she told you things she wanted to believe in
Then it was so sad she repeated and repeated what a shitty way to spend a night
Like some candidates know the antidote
She’s not telling you, she’s not selling you nothing
There’s nothing to gain just by asking her
There’s no compromise–if you’re not in, you’re not existing
And you wish that you were inside more than just her world
She’s…
It felt so good when she got high–she ran out quick and sent someone to get it
Then she got ripped off–she ended up with nothing what a shitty way to end a night
Like a domino falling on your phone you found that you had nothing to offer
If it was gold, they’d laugh you out the door
And it’s so sad to say, most people don’t even act this way
So why is she so important to you?
She’s…
It felt so good when she got high–she took too much and she started to panic
“Does anybody have a couple extra Xanax?” What a shitty way to spend a night
There’s no funeral, just the usual gathering in a small town you’ve never heard of
You thought that you knew her, she never told you she was so far from home
But home was simply the last place, the last place that she was looking for
That was your mistake
She’s…
It felt so good when she got high–but something’s wrong, it’s never been this strong
There wasn’t even time to call the paramedics what a shitty way to end a life
She’s…
It felt so good when you got high–if you’re half as lucky you’ll end up just like her
Taking over bars and holding nights for hipsters what a killer way to spend a life
(She’s…)
NOTION 99
Beautiful day
On a day like today when you can’t get away with the murderous
Little remains
Of the wide open plains where you hardly contained your deservedness
Hanging around
Like the question she found to the answer expounding your consciousness
Beautiful way
How she tried to divide like an emperor tide and be ‘conquerous’
Hey – it’s a beautiful ride
Hey – it’s a colorful motion
Hey – you got nothing to hide
But you can’t get caught with the notion
Meeting the match
In a station of trains on their way to the Nation of Animus
Is there a catch?
To control, down the hole, down the hatch, where the rabbits are ravenous?
Setting a trap
Unaware if you care, if she dares to ensnare for the hack of it
Minding the gap
Are you glad for the labyrinth moments you had keeping track of it?
Hey – it’s a beautiful ride
Hey – it’s a colorful motion
Hey – you got nothing to hide
But you can’t get caught with the notion
HOLIDAY HOURS
’m waking up; I’m getting out into the daily motion
I’m placing bets; I’m rising up to meet your day
It’s presentation of the perfect family expectation
Tinseled evergreens are losing their display
Stop and starters, winter partners, under doormat key
Warrior weekends, shallow deep ends
I don’t ever want to hear they won’t give what you need
I don’t ever want to hear
I don’t ever want to hear they won’t let you be
I don’t ever want to hear
They’re just the product of a childhood better left forgetting
You’re so the picture of an image I have seen
There’s a synopsis in the boxes housed on storefront shelving
A case of delving as the week’s unraveling
Basement bargains, in-law jargons, buy one/get one free
Sibling rivals, heirloom bibles, half-lit family tree
I don’t ever want to hear they won’t give what you need
I don’t ever want to hear
I don’t ever want to hear they won’t help you be
I don’t ever want to see
Walk to the front of the line ‘round the block
In the back of your mind to the place you left behind
And if you need some extra time to gather all your rations
I’ll keep the shop lights burning longer than today
Before the night, before you drive up to your parents’ hometown
And put your effervescent lights out on display
I don’t ever want to hear they won’t give what you need
I don’t ever want to hear
I don’t ever want to hear they won’t let you be
I don’t ever want to see
I don’t ever want to hear
ENEWETAK
Ah, this could have been Enewetak
Stressed, embattled, irradiated, evacuated, and
Something’s on in those isles a foreign power said
Ah this could have been Enewetak, now bathed in comet spray
So many devils were called out now cast in concrete
The land was vapor after Operation Ivy
Hydrogen Megatons
Medical 4.1
Has anyone else read HG Wells Shapes have come?
Try to find Enewetak
They say Man will bury you, but I hope God takes you back in his arms and says
“Earth Air Fire + the Sea:
Physics stole them all from me.
But I will try to keep Enewetak out the rising waves”
And all the mothers loved their babies tho they weren’t like us no more
Lay out a heading for the homeworld of a species on parole
Dust in the atmosphere
24,000 years
A radioactive trail of tears in the sand