photo above by Matt Carmichael

Poi Dog Pondering

quick links for upcoming concerts and musical recordings

The only Up Coming Concerts for 2024

POI DOG PONDERING & NIGHT GLITTER @ AUSTIN CITY LIMITS ACL 310

Tickets on sale: https://www.acllive.com/event/2024-poi-dog-pondering

BOOK On Sale Now! (click photo below)

Poi Dog Pondering Private Concert Series:

Hire Poi Dog Pondering for your own private party: 7 sizes to choose from:

1 - Frank Orrall / Poi dog Pondering Solo, Acoustic Living Room Concert: $800 (20 people maximum for intimacy - we can do more, but would need to rent a sound system and price would increase depending on the situation, # of ppl etc., - but, doable)

2 - Chef Franc Music and Dinner Party: 700 + $50 per diner (up to 10 people, if 11 to 16 diners add 400 for his Sous Chef - if you would like a band member as sous chef, add 600 per) - 16 person maximum - special arrangements can be made for larger parties. (Frank Orrall cooks and serves you dinner/dessert and plays a private concert for you and your Friends/Family.

3 - Chef Franc Music and Dessert Party: Frank prepares a dessert and plays a house concert. (20 person maximum) $950 + 600 for each additional PDP band member you wish. Frank prepares dessert and we play music and sing :))) (20 people maximum)

4 - Frank Orrall / Poi dog Pondering Potluck Music & Dinner Party: $1000 + 600 for each additional PDP band member you wish. You and your friends and family bring a dish, so does Frank, we eat we play music and sing :))) (20 people maximum)

5 - Poi Dog Pondering Acoustic Living room concert (25 person maximum capacity - 5 member band, - fully acoustic / intimate - no sound system ) $5,000

6 - Poi Dog Pondering mid sized House Rocker party (up to 50 person maximum capacity - 8 member band - electric (drums etc), includes sound system) $ 10,000

7 - Poi Dog Pondering large sized Electric Backyard Bash Party (up to 150 person maximum capacity - 8 to 10 member band - electric, includes sound system & modest lights. $14,000 (House-O-Matics dance troupe 2,000 extra)

8 - X-tra Large sized Poi Dog Pondering Electric Rock & Soul Party (up to 200 person maximum capacity - Full 12 member expanded band) $18,000 - Full electric, includes sound system & lights: (+ House-O-Matics dance troupe Add $2000 )

(NOTE: these are for Private Home events only, no selling tickets or advertising these events: Chicago area only - If Outside Chicago land; travel expenses and hotel would be additional)

CONTACT Frank Orrall @ info@platetectonicmusic.com

photo above by Matt Carmichael 2024

Poi Dog Pondering Biography

Poi Dog Pondering keeps thriving because their ethic has always been about following their musical heart. Their steadfast independence has allowed them to perennially bloom. From bohemian street buskers to impossible to market major label sacrificial lambs, to hard won autonomy with their own record label (Platetectonic Music) Poi dog pondering have ripened into staunchly independent musical voyagers.

They have let every sound that excited them, flow through their music and flood it with ever changing colors: Orchestral, Acoustic and Electronic textures. Rock Band Disco, Chicago Stepper Soul & their unique ‘Soul Sonic Orchestra’ - “Acous-tronic” sound. (Threaded all along the way with ‘heart on the sleeve’ lyrics that embrace the beauty and pain of everyday life).

Poi Dog Pondering is stronger than ever & continue to evolve with their ever present irreverence to stylistic conformity. 30+ years down the line there is a bolstered sense of history within the band now. A swagger that comes from having steadfastly carved their own path. It is quite apparent that PDP has always been, and ever will be, initfor-the-love-of-it; creating and performing. Line up changes are par for the course. PDP is an organic entity, it changes like life does. But there is a core with strong roots & deep personal history, open to new ears and ready to experiment. That’s what keeps it vibrant.

Poi dog pondering was founded in Hawaii by band leader & chief songwriter / producer, Frank Orrall, in 1984, originally as a solo project & recording production alias. Frank then formed a touring band a few years later. The first live performance was at the Honolulu Arts Academy. Filled with youthful imitative exuberance and inspiration from reading about Andy Warhol and the Velvet Underground’s ‘Exploding Plastic inevitable’ projected film and music happenings, PDP projected films of lava eruptions, ocean and other natural environments over the band as they performed. The tradition of projected imagery along with PDP live performances developed and matured over the years and continues to this day thanks too long time film and video artist/collaborators Luke Savisky and Marco Ferrari.

In 1987 PDP’s wanderlust drew them to the mainland, where they embarked on a year long bohemian travel tour across the United States and Canada, playing acoustically on street corners for gas and food money, while sleeping outdoors all along the way. This experience forged Poi Dog Pondering’s self identity & confidence as a “D.I.Y.” entity. PDP was signed to the noble boutique label Texas Hotel who released their first record in ’88. Sony / Columbia released the next 2 records “Wishing like a mountain…” & “VoloVolo”. PDP relocated to Chicago in ’92 and formed their own label Platetectonic Music and released the critically acclaimed “Pomegranate” in ’95. For the next ten years PDP delved heavily into developing their orchestration skills, culminating in major collaborations with the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra and the Chicago Sinfonietta (with PDP’s Susan Voelz, Paul Mertens, Max Crawford & Frank Orrall doing the arrangements). Band leader Frank Orrall’s interest in electronic music garnered him respect from the Chicago House/Electronic music community for his solo project 8fatfat8, and lead him to become a member of Thievery Corporation as percussionist and vocalist (whom he is still a touring member). All this influenced PDP’s next 2 records “Natural Thing” and “In Seed Comes Fruit” which saw the band experimenting with electronic textures, beautiful lush arrangements and unhurried, sometimes instrumental song structures, letting musicality determine the song structure, rather than traditional “verse / chorus / bridge” style song writing.

In 2005 PDP combined all of it’s experience together and

set out to write and record “a straight up Rock and Soul record”, complete with strings and horns. The result was the critically acclaimed; “7”. Two EPs & a Live DVD later, PDP has swashbuckled through their 8th & 9th Studio recordings “Everybody’s Got A Star”… and now this most recent release: “Remnants of Spring”.

PDP is currently recording a new album, due out end of 2022.

Creating, Touring, not Stopping: Loving.

This band shows no sign of wear.

Brand New digital album Releases!

Poi Dog Pondering is currently prepping to record a new album, due for 2022 release

the most recent PDP release “Remnants of Summer” 2018

Photo: Jim Kast

 Poi Dog Pondering Historical Timeline

:
1984-86: Frank Orrall records a series of 4 full length cassette albums on home 4track under the Alias / Moniker "Poi Dog Pondering".
1987: The original Hawai'i line up of PDP (including Abra Moore, Ted Cho and John Nelson) Travels across north America for a year playing on street corners for gas and food money, and camp out all along the way.
1988 - 1991: PDP re-locate to Austin and release 3 records: "Poi dog pondering", "Wishing like a mountain..." & "Volo Volo". Tour heavily in the States, Canada, Europe and Japan.
1992: PDP relocate to Chicago and develope it's big band Rock and Soul sound.
1995/1996: PDP Start their own Record Label (Platetectonic Music) and release "Pomegranate" & perform the album from start to finish with the Grant Park Symphony in Chicago's Grant Park. (Susan Voelz, Paul Mertens and Max Crawford score and arrange for the first time on this large scale).
1997: PDP draw over 20,000 people and sell out Ravinia Festival, an attendance record that holds to this day, 2015.
1999: PDP release "Natural thing"
2000: PDP release the live album " Soul Sonic Orchestra" which captures the band re-inventing itself once again as a live disco orchestra.
2001: Band Front-man, Frank Orrall's interest in electronic music leads him to become a member of Thievery Corporation's live band as a percussion player and singer, which he continues to this day, when not playing with PDP).
2003: PDP release their 6th record "In Seed Comes Fruit".
2005: PDP Collaborate with the Chicago Sinfonietta and compose and performe a "remix" version of Dvorak's "New World Symphony" at the Chicago Symphony Center and use "projected-still and moving imagery with the intent to form a subconscious relationship between the notion of the hopes of what people associated with starting a new life in the new world and life's passage from birth to death".
Spring 2007: PDP compose and arrange a re-invention of the music and themes from the opera "Carmen" and performed it live with the Chicago Sinfonietta. PDP founder Frank Orrall & film maker Marco Ferrari collaborate to make a stream of consciousness silent film to accompany the performance. The result was a sort impressionistic mini opera.
Winter 2007: PDP compose and performe an original score for the film "Limite" (1930), the preeminent work of the Brazilian silent era, Directed by Mario Peixoto. This was in conjunction with the Chicago Cinema Forum & Sonotheque.
2008: PDP finish and release the album "7" & tour North America.

2009: PDP voted "Best Rock / Pop Act" in the Chicago Reader's 2009 reader's poll.
2010 PDP record and release "Audio Love Letter", a 7 song love letter to Steve Marriott, Jeremy Brett, Van Morrison, Matt Johnson & David Bowie... a mini album for the pure fun of it...
2012: Brian Liu & Poi Dog Pondering film and record a sweeping 51 song quadruple c.d. box set & 4 hour DVD movie: "Live at Metro Chicago". The film encapsulates the band's early history as Bohemian Street Musicians all the way to present day Chicago Orchestral Rock and Soul stalwarts.
2013/2014: Frank Orrall released 3 solo Solo albums: "Never Trade These Days" ,  "AMA" & "8fatfat8: Music from the Gaijin Hotel":.
2015: Frank Orrall and Poi Dog Pondering record the new Album "Everybody's Got A Star"

2018: PDP Release thier 9th studio Album: “Remnants of Spring”

2020: Frank Orrall releases the debut album of his new alias “Mourning Doves International” 

2023: PDP releases their 10th Studio album “Keep On Loving Each Other” 

ABOUT THE BAND MEMBERS of Poi Dog Pondering

________ FRANK ORRALL: (Various Instruments & Vocals) Son of a Solar Physicist Father and a Carter Family song singing Mother. Raised in the Hawaiian Ocean... As a young musician, I cut my Teeth on Disco, Punk Rock & Brit Pop. Founded PDP originally as a Solo effort in 1984; releasing Cassette Albums recorded out of my bedroom, on consignment in local record shops. Met a lot of truly Marvelous musicians, bandmates and Comrades along the way. I'm a Street Musician. Drummer. Guitar Player. Writer of Prose. Body Surfer.  Collector of instruments, Record albums and Swim Fins. Touring Musician: Poi Dog Pondering, Thievery Corporation & Federico Aubele. I Love to Cook, Drink Wine & Play Records. Biggest Dream: To voyage the Pacific on a sailboat.

________ SUSAN VOELZ: (Violin and Vocals) A Chicago radio host called the sound of my violin: “A bat with butterfly wings.” I am from Wauwatosa, (Wisconsin) - Wauwatosa means ‘little firefly’ in Menomonee Indian.
Using my grandfather’s violin that I converted to a 5 string violin, recorded on the very first Poi record.
Solo artist: Released two solo records (13 ribs and summer crashing). Soon to release a Prince cover record The Monarchy Treasure and a 40 minute Symphonic Octet The Pali Chant Suite - setting a series of Thai stretches to music.
Composing and String Arranging: Peabody Award winning Frontline “Children of Conyers County” and its follow up “Merchants of Cool.” 2006 Oscar for Best Documentary Short Subject, “A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin” Jonathan Demme movie “Jimmy Carter: A Man from the Plains.” James McCartney (that McCartney) in Steve Albini’s studio.
Published Author: Musicians Guide to the Road - Billboard Books/Random House - 2007. I just went through my touring journals and wrote a remedy for the road the best I could.
Performing with other artists: Alejandro Escovedo, (recently with Peter Buck of REM as the backing band), John Mellencamp, giant sand, British rock legend Ronnie Lane, Charlie Sexton.
Rock Violin Teacher: Created a Rock Violin Studio on the north side of Chicago.
Original Austin Poi Dog Pondering Member since 1988

________ DAVE MAX CRAWFORD: (Various Instruments)
•    Recordings with Stereolab, Wilco, Archer Prewitt, Scott Lucas & the Married Men, Mono, and countless others. •    Founder of The Total Pro Horns: live shows with Wilco (including SNL), Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, The Walkmen, Broken Social Scene, Afghan Whigs, Expo 76, and many more.
•    Conducted a 30-piece orchestra for Japanese band Mono at their 10th- anniversary concert in Tokyo (December 2009) •    Bartender at the rock club Metro for the past 23 years, Lincoln Hall for 6 years. •    LED/Video board operator at Wrigley Field for the past12 seasons •    Appeared in the film “Dazed and Confused” as an extra. I had scenes with both Ben Affleck & Matthew McConaughey. •    In high school, I sat next to Wynton Marsalis in the Louisiana All-State Orchestra of 1978. •    This is a lot harder to do than I expected. I’m sure there’s more. I am super- interesting.
Original Austin Poi Dog Pondering Member since 1988

________ EL JOHN NELSON: (Drums & Percussion)
A self taught drummer, el john was raised in a musical family in the New York neighborhoods of Crown Heights and West Harlem. el john learned piano at home and sang in church choir at an early age. By age 12 el john was participating in West African drum and dance ensembles at Babatunde Olatunji's Center for African Culture in Harlem while also being invited to drum in street rhumbas with Cuban and Peurto Rican congueros in the neighborhoods of Harlem. Eventually developing a natural interest in the trap drum set, el john studied privately with master drummers Alan Nelson, Anthony Williams, and David Girabaldi. In 1982, el john joined the Pagan Babies as their percussionist, an experience that honed practical knowledge and skills of African and Carribean rythyms such as zouk, high-life, reggae, and Nyabinghi. It is during this period also that el john met Poi Dog Pondering founder, Frank Orrall which developed a lifetime friendship and musical partnership.
Among the artists el john has worked with: Thievery Corporation, Poi Dog Pondering, Victor Krummenacher, Charanga Cakewalk, Federico Aubele, Penelope Houston, and Benny Rietveld, Captain Bringdown, Candy Machine, and The Pagan Babies,.
Presently, el John resides and works in Austin, TX. When not touring providing services to artists /bands as a touring percussionist/ drummer, John teaches both drum set and hand drumming on private arrangement.
Original Hawai'i Poi Dog Pondering Member since 1986

________TED CHO: (Guitar & Mandolin) Born and raised in Hawai'i. Original Hawai'i Poi Dog Pondering Member since 1987.  Also played Guitar and Recorded with Hollowbody (w/ former PDP guitarist, Adam sultan),  Palaxy Tracks and The Going Along Feeling Just Fines. Mary Dee Reynolds, Sattelite 66 and Chiyoko Yoshida.

Recording Engineer & Production for PDP,  Hollowbody and Palaxy Tracks along with other diverse artists like Nathan Hamilton, the Gold Stars, Canasta, the Peelers and Chris Larumbe.

________ PAUL MERTENS: (Saxophone , flute, clarinet) - Performer and arranger/orchestrator. - Poi Dog Pondering Since '94 - Brian Wilson since '99, music director; touring and recording including Smile and Pet Sounds - Wilco, Ashes of American Flags, tour and documentary. - recordings with:Mavis Staples, Stereolab, The Sea and Cake, Jarvis Cocker, Mono, Burt Bacharach, The Beach Boys.

________ DAG JUHLIN: (Guitar)
Guitarist for Poi Dog Pondering since 1992 Formed popular cover band Expo'76 in 2009 Has written music for plays, indie films, TV Day job is on WLS AM 890 Chicago, alongside radio legend Steve Dahl Formed Chicago band The Slugs in 1983
Lives in Woodstock, IL, Father of two Six foot three, 170 lbs, Bald "I'll have the chorizo taco dinner and a margarita, please"

________ ROBERT CORNELIUS: (Vocals) Nephew of the late great Don Cornelius Front Man for The RC7 Band Performed w/ with Mavis Staples, Dave Matthews, Aretha Franklin, Buddy Guy, Syd Straw, and Otis Clay. Robert is the Arts Education Director for Tony Award recipient Victory Gardens Theater, providing arts programs and tickets to see plays at the theater free of charge to Chicago Public School students. Band Mate with Poi Dog Pondering since '94

________ KORNELL HARGROVE:    (Vocals) Fireman w/ the Racine Wisconsin Fire Dept., Singer / Band Mate with Poi Dog Pondering since '94

________ CHARLETTE WORTHAM:    (Vocals) Church Choir singer in Chicago, Lover of Dogs, Delightful Rascal, Fabulous Pedicurist.  Singer / Band Mate with Poi Dog Pondering since '99

________ CARLA PRATHER:    (Vocals) Carla is a solo Artist in House Music and R&B and, has worked with: Jellybean
Benitez, Terry Hunter, Vic Lavender, The Funklovers, Quentin Harris, Josh Milan, Lilac Jeans, Dolls Combers & Maurice Joshua
"My biggest moments in music have occurred in my General Music classes with my students as a Music teacher in Chicago, they sheepishly "google" and find out that I'm a real recording artist.....they usually call me old school :) ! "  Band Mate with Poi Dog Pondering since '99

________ RON HALL: (BASS) From Jazz to R&B to House Music, Ron is top call bassist in Chicago. Band Mate with Poi Dog Pondering since '99

________ RICK GEHERENBECK: (Keyboards) Artists i've performed Keyboards with: Bootsy Collins, Gladys Knight, Charlie Wilson, Talib Kweli, Pharaoh Monch, Sugar Blue, J Davis Trio
Bands i've played in: Poi Dog Pondering, Swimmer, Peven Everett's Seance Divine, Mr ALI, RC7, Booty Movement Coalition, Q Brothers,Will from Brazil
Solo: Mr Egg Germ releases: Loveslap, ILI, D'lectable, Bass X, Esntion, Fourplay, and LAY Records.
As a remixer: Patricia Barber, Jesse De La Pena, Uncle Milty, DJ Dealer, Gene Farris, Anthony Nicholson
other work: Chief Web Architect at HealthString
Palindromes I've written: Mr Egg Germ Party Rat in a Sanitary Trap Hell is not a tonsil, leh
Band Mate with Poi Dog Pondering since '99

________ JULIO DAVIS: (Vibraphone) - Son of Chicago soul music producer Carl Davis - member of hip-hop jazz band, The J.Davis Trio - member of South American/Bossa Nova band, The Mourning Doves - martial arts and comic book aficionado - avid baseball and tennis player - sexy.  Band Mate with Poi Dog Pondering since '99

________ RYAN MURPHY: (Drums & Percussion)
As my job as a lighting designer/director I've been able to work with diverse and great artists ranging from Leonard Cohen to Wilco. Andrew Bird to Morrissey. It was my good fortune to be Cohen's Lighting Director for his entire comeback run from 2008 to 2013. Strange as it may seem I got my start as a designer for bands as the LD for none other than...Poi Dog Pondering! Thus began a long friendship with the family. All whilst lighting the lights I was playing in many different bands, playing on commercial spots and with various Poi members in either their solo or side projects. I've played Drums and/or Percussion with Julio, Dave Smith and Rick G (J Davis Trio) off and on for many years. I've played for Susan Voelz with her solo work as well as a few side projects. I also play with Robert Cornelius in his band, the RC7. I guess it was inevitable, at some point I'd play with them all together in Poi.
In the PDP Family and crew since the late '90s, Co-Drummer since 2014.

Press Quotes:

"Poi is becoming one of the longest running and most spirited do-it-yourself musical institutions in the country, defying the odds of commerce and interpersonal relationships by keeping a 12 piece band viable..."
- GREG KOT, CHICAGO TRIBUNE

"For all the changes of two decades, Poi Dog Pondering holds onto a constant, wide-eyed sense of artistic curiosity and discovery. On 7, looking back and moving forward, the band remains open-hearted and open-minded."
"The Poi Dog sound happens because of the real and deep connection between the players, which shows in how they listen to one another in performance. The fact that most of them have been doing just that for two decades only increases the power of community they bring to the stage."
- NO DEPRESSION

"It's a muscular soul revue, a transcendental dance band...Poi Dog Pondering rose like an even brighter phoenix from the ashes, spreading it's wings confidently and soaring into realms few stage bands today can reach."
-AUSTIN CHRONICLE

"Often knocked for cheerfulness bordering on naivete, Poi Dog has sometimes gotten a bad rap from critics looking to have their hip card punched."
"The musical communication between these players and the newer members springs from the pure joy of playing together".
- MICHAEL CORCORAN

"Impossible to categorize, the joyful music of Poi Dog Pondering is truly transcendent."
-CHICAGO TRIBUNE

Poi Dog Pondering & House-O-Matics Dance Team

 Photos by: Alex Cohen / Poi Dog Pondering at the Paramount Theater 2014

Recent Acoustic performance in the wine cellar at City Winery in New York City

LYRICS

Poi Dog Pondering

Living With The Dreaming Body

Robin's in the metaphysical section,
 She's got "Living with the Dreaming Body."
 Robin's in the metaphysical section,
 She's sprawled out along the carpet floor.

 She says my work is like eating cold oatmeal,
 yesterday's oatmeal, day after day.
 She says my work is like eating cold oatmeal,
 day after day, and she's right.

 Drunk on margaritas and full of food,
 she says "it's hard to be with one when you're in love with another."
 Drunk on margaritas and full of food,
 she says "it's hard to be with one when you're in love with another."

 Robin's in the metaphysical section,
 She's sprawled out drunk along the carpet floor.

Fall Upon Me

Fall upon me in my quiet pain.
 Fall upon me, again and again.
 Across wide open fields,
 and grass down of green.

 I'm awake but my head is in the air.
 Wide awake, take me walking into the cold cold air.

 Fall upon me like a hundred flowers.
 Fall upon me like the masseuse of hours.
 Give me the breath of life,
 from your loving chest.

 Fall upon me in the pouring rain.
 Wet my lips again and again.
 Give me the grace of your finger tips.
 Fall upon me.

Postcard from a Dream
 (toast and jelly)

Before your lights quite fail,
 And you fall spinning singing from the same song.
 Pass your hand before me,
 Palm shining, light streaming.
 Speak to me your lips touch,
 Crackle like water spilling,
 tumbling down.

 Sing to me lull softly call quiver.
 Dream to me like a flame flicker.
 Shimmering, Shimmering mirage like vision,
 of tranquility.

 Honeyflower sing suckle
 oh so sweetly call to me
 lure linger please
 lure linger, lure linger

 Cover me with your hands unfolded,
 wrapped around, held like a ball.
 Think of me -- put all your self inside me,
 Then send me spinning into the sun.

 Dreams dreamt and thoughts thunk.
 Tooth brushed and watch wound
 Before toast and tea
 Before toast and tea

 "Breakfast!" Good morning everybody,
 The sun is up and there's lots of toast and jelly
 Wash Wash, you gotta wash the dishes
 If you're gonna eat upon 'em, ya gotta wash 'em.
 You can get it if you really want,
 you gotta try hard, try hard
 (P.S. Keep on the sunny side)

Pulling Touch

You are a butterfly and my eyes are needles.
 The cold has your breast and my hand is on fire,
 You resting and reposing,
 My veins are pulsing.
 And nothing can cure me, but your pulling touch.

 I'll stretch you out, and lay alongside you,
 Run my hands along, devour and divide you.

 In the cool of the night, under a rain-pelted roof,
 Beneath cotton white linen, our love is spilt.
 You are a cup that I hold by the cheekbones,
 I pull you close and I drink you up.

 I'll stretch you out, and lay alongside you,
 Run my hands along, devour and divide you.

Sound of Water

Sometimes I think I should,
 Sometimes I think I oughta.
 If I could, you know I would.
 Talk to you in a minute,
 call you on the telephone

 I saw a picture of you and it took me through,
 so many visions of you I couldn't stand it.
 but I sat it through.

 Another day and it's still the same,
 I thought of you as I always do
 You know that picture of two sad faces you drew?
 Well I know which one is me,
 and I know which one is you.
 I have so much information but know not what to do,
 I could call you on the telephone,
 but that would be too much for me to do.
 Oh the sound of water, oh the taste of water.

Fact of Life

Relentlessly climbing and conquering and swallowing
 fresh pain
 Melting reemerging and rising up clean
 in the pouring rain
 Rise up clean in the pouring rain, only to drop down
 and decay again

 Muscle and sweat and blood and bones
 feel good, feel strong!

 Don't ask why, it's a fact you die

Circle Around the Sun

My ghost is everywhere here
 It hangs on every tree
 Lingering with every flower and leaf,
 smell of scent and sight and sound
 These are calling cards from another time

 Familiar days and forgotten phases,
 like water trickle down down down
 Time is an ocean, and I'm set to swim
 and I'm tumbled by her.

 Circle around the sun, turn turn turn
 Someday my turn will come
 Stretched by time and torn by fate
 I'm held together by the flesh of faith

 Pushing up I hope for the sun,
 but I'll take the rain with what all it comes
 I walk and my feet roll, arms sway side to side, to and fro
 Who am I to try to guide my life?

 Like the tribes that came before us, and all the kings and queens
 and our ancestors, through the centuries...
 Through the birth of a child, I return the gift that was given me
 The wind on the skin, and the pull of gravity.

 Circle around the sun, turn turn turn
 One day my turn will come
 I'm living every minute and dying every day
 I hope my heart is in the right place

Aloha Honolulu
(by Bruce Hughes)

Aloha, Honolulu, here I come with some friends of mine
 Half of them the Hawaiian kind
 The other half just need a little sunshine
 On the isle of Oahu, the day is just begun
 Relax is number one
 "Don't rush me haole, there's plenty of sun"
 "Did you bring the lotion? You know your skin is awful white"
 Yeah, I brought the lotion, spread it on my broad daylight.
 Now I'm free sky stylin on the shiny island
 all the peoples smilin', and brother let me tell ya I'm smilin' too.

Wood Guitar

Oh Elizabeth, would you come down,
 with your wood guitar now.
 Oh please play for me.
 Lay your hands upon those strings, wood guitar, wood guitar
 I wish that you could play for me,
 I wish that I could fall asleep.

Falling

I'm falling, but its OK
 Never know just where I'll land
 No sense to force plans, I'm flying.

 I'm walking, feel my hands and my legs,
 They feel good to be moving, side to side
 sway, sway, I'm gliding.

Edit Text

Wishing Like a Mountain
Thinking Like the Sea
 
wish.jpg
 
 
Bury Me Deep

A lifetime of accomplishments of which the dirt knows none,
 only in death can one truly return
 Return the carrots, the apples and potatoes,
 The chickens, the cows, the fish and tomatoes.
 In one glorious swoop, let the deed be done
 and bury me deep so that I can be one...

 And all around my muscle and all around my bone,
 don't incinerate me or seal me from
 the dirt which bore me, the bed that which from
 the rain falls upon and the fruit comes from
 For the dirt is a blanket, no fiery tomb,
 No punishment, reward, or pearly white room
 And you who say that in death we will pay,
 The dead they can't hear a word that you say
 Your words are not kind, sober or giving,
 they only put fear in the hearts of the living
 So put away your tongues and roll up your sleeves,
 and pick up your shovel and bury me deep.

Watermelon Song

Wishing like a mountain and thinking like the sea
 How it is to feel absolutely free
 (The simplest things so hard to achieve)

 I want to be your watermelon, let me sing into your radio
 Let me be the yeast inside your bread,
 let me be the new thought inside your head

 Here in this room, where the cost of light and heat
 are such a distraction from the things we really need
 Love is everything and everything's a distraction

U Li La Lu

You should wear with pride the scars on your skin
 They're a map of the adventures and the places you've been
 "Praise God," he said lifting his drink.
 "And the devil too!" you said with a wink.
 Hey Woody Guthrie! Hey Marc Chagall!
 There's far too many of you to thank you all
 But I wanna talk about the gift that you gave
 I'm so happy about the gift that you gave!
 (A friend of mine once said....
 "If you're ever around when someone dies,
 look up and wave, they'll get a big kick out of it.")
 If I should die in a car wreck,
 may I have Van Morrison on my tape deck.

Everybody's Trying

I know you're bitter, but why?
 Don't you know that two wrongs don't make a right?
 It's not that simple
 But everybody's trying to figure it out

 I feel so detached today, I don't know
 It's not that simple, It's not that simple
 It's all that we can do to try and work it on out.

Big Beautiful Spoon

Wrap around me and curl, you big beautiful spoon
 The thought of your touch and smell just makes me swoon
 When you lay me down, my heart is still as a pond
 Together like two spoons until dawn.

 Sometimes I live in the past, I know that it's true
 I'm romantic to melancholy, you know that's true too.
 The past is a shoe box of old songs and photographs,
 I dig in and wade through, I learn from my past.

 I'm helpless and doomed, sad and ashamed
 The mistakes that I've made, will I make them again?

 Feet are made for walking, and hands are made for love,
 And for the longing and the lonely, the moon and stars shine above.
 Well there's a time and a place, a river and a bridge,
 a kitchen and a hallway, a stove and a fridge.
 A clock on the wall, and there's a telephone call,
 songs to be sung, and work to be done.
 Well you rub two sticks together and sparks start a fire,
 and I'm longing and I'm lonely, and for you I desire.

The Ancient Egyptians
 (A Love Letter to Jonathan Richman)

Well the Ancient Egyptians, and the other Africans
 The Mayans, the Incas, and all the Polynesians.
 All around the world, a long long time ago,
 People would walk, where ever they had to go.
 They didn't have car keys, and they didn't have roads --
 They didn't have those ugly convenience stores, or Texacos
 In fact, all around the world, a long long time ago,
 people would walk, where ever they had to go.

 Well now it's the 1990's, and the gasoline does flow,
 but I still try and walk most of the places I have to go
 But sometimes my friends will stop and say,
 "Hey Frank! There's a bus or a cab over there...
 Why don't we go ahead and get in it?"
 But I say no, no, no, and didn't you know,
 you get to know things better when they go by slow.

Spending the Day in the Shirt that you Wore

Oh the days of wine and roses and the rubbing of noses
 Bare feet, new sprouts, and garden hoses.
 Skipping stones, while skipping home...
 "Look at that tree, it's got a brand new leaf!"
 Candle light, candle light -- for no reason
 Eating fresh fruit when it's in season.
 Take an aimless drive behind a motor wheel
 Sticking fingers on paintings to see the way they feel!

 Spending the day in the shirt that you wore
 I can sense your presence from the day before...

Thanksgiving
(By Adam Sultan)
 
Somehow I find myself far out of line
 from the ones I had drawn
 Wasn't the best of paths, you could attest to that,
 but I'm keeping on.
 Would our paths cross if every great loss
 had turned out our gain?
 Would our paths cross if the pain it had cost us
 was paid in vain?

 There was no pot of gold, hardly a rainbow
 lighting my way
 But I will be true to the red, black and blues
 that colored those days.

 I owe my soul to each fork in the road,
 each misleading sign.
 'Cause even in solitude, no bitter attitude
 can dissolve my sweetest find

 Thanksgiving for every wrong move that made it right.

Praise the Lord

"Praise the lord," he said to me, and he seemed quite happy, he seemed quite happy, and I said... "Yeah!"

 'Cause I was just down at the sea, and it occurred to me that I like to feel it knock me down, twist and throw and churn me around 'cause it's Mother Ocean, and I'm just one of her sons.
 And she can do just what she wants to me, and I know she does nothing purposely. I must respect, that goes unsaid, but it's all just a twist of fate. And I know about heaven's gate, because I've seen it but not up close, and I know it ain't no pearly white, and I know that I'll be nothing there, just food for fish and twisting worms, but that's just fine with me, 'cause when I'm being tossed by the sea, I can feel a force greater than misery, greater than my stupid job, greater than our stupid bomb, and a time comes to mind a time without complexity.

So don't tell me about the land of Nod, where we are supposed to sit at the right hand of God, where the lion will lay down with the lamb, because you know damn well he'll eat him if he can. The lion doesn't want to be pacified by promises of an endless life 'cause he knows it's not that way -- he's not detached, he sees it everyday: the birth, the death, and the decay. And he accepts and says it's okay -- he would eat us for our elitist ways.

The Me That Was Your Son

Mother, you have been dead now for six years
 And in the years since then, I have grown to know my father,
 and this makes me happy.
 Do you know that you two are so different? And I wish I
 remembered the two of you together, but all I have are
 photos of them, and they tell me a lot, but only in the way
 that a smell reminds you of a time long gone.

 This makes me sad, my friends don't know the you then,
 nor have they ever met the me that was your son.

 Mother, when I'm in my memory of you,
 I meet again the me that was your son,
 and he is a stranger, but so are you.
 But Mamma, one cannot live in the past.
 Everyday brings new decisions,
 new sadness and new joy.

Fruitless

I could walk away, I could let this fly
 go back home and start again -- Fruitless
 I have faith in how things seem to start again,
 that tale of your one big chance is a lie, told by consumed men.
 And I push, and I push to not give in

 I don't recall a place that I would call the end
 But things are different now I know and that was then.
 I could walk away, I've been pushing for so long,
 All dried up and sap sucked thin -- Fruitless
 And I push, and I push to not give in

Big Walk

Take a trip 'round this great big world
 There are many things that I've never seen,
 many places that I've never been but I'd like to.
 Global Village, under one sun,
 that means one for all and all for one.
 This great big world is for everyone.
 India, Africa, Canada, and Thailand too.
 Afghanistan, Australia, Tahiti and Russia, too.
 Suniva's way up in Canada, we wanna know
 "What's it like?"
 There is no nationalism, there is no sole religion
 Those are ideals of the past, they don't work here anymore.

Sugarbush Cushman

Sugarbush Cushman lived by the Ruud pond
 Way up north in Barre Vermont
 Way up high where the maple trees grow,
 she says "I'm from Vermont and I loves the snow."
 In her floppy french cap, seated beneath the maple tree,
 drinking down the sap, not a care in the world
 cause it's all in her hands as she throws her head back.

 Married by the minister, her mother made the cake,
 and her husband played the drums in a big dance band,
 and they could take the six dollars they made everynight
 and keep them in hot food in her cast iron pan.

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Volo Volo
 
volo.jpg
 
 
Lack Luster

Hey! Hey! Hey!
 Slippy side, Side-Side-Side go to go

 a long time gone and a long time past
 so soon so soon -- Lack Luster Lack Luster
 how can I muster
 The faith That I need to see
 The Things I need to see --
 on again off again
 Bronco
 try to hold on to the ribs
 of the situation at hand.

 a long time gone and a long time past,
 since I felt That Things were within my grasp. . .
 wheel roll round
 round, round, round -- hear that Sound.

 Leaning longingly against The window,
 falling forlorn to the ground, ground, ground. . .
 when I wonder, when I whistle,
 when I'm wandering Through The Thistles
 when I'm tangled up in Bristles
 hey! hey! hey!

 Beautifully Pained like an angel in purgatory --
 wrapped up and exhaulted --
 immaculate in melancholy --
 She (sea) sure (shore)
 rose and The sand fell Through her hands
 grain after grain after grain !

 "In the Beginning was The Myth"
 Chapter one starts like this. . . ,
 "Blank and Calm, and full of expectancy." (Herman Hess' "peter Caminziad")
 I'm standing exactly where I'm
 Supposed to be. . .

 Twisting and Tumbling, not
 Standing or fumbling.

Collarbone

Desire hangs on for dear life
 on the window sill of the collarbone
 of the one I love
 And a glimmering shimmer
 of sweat gathers into a pool in her palm
 from a well in her wrist

 (chorus)

 And the only thing that speaks the truth
 is the eloquence of passing time
 the spoken word is a jacket too tight.

 There's a shimmering vision
 by the window pane
 a cellophane figure speaking in
 tounges from above

 Theres the curve of a stone
 and the crest of a wave
 here are the lips that cracked
 and the sound that they made

 (chorus)

 Desire hangs on for dear life
 on the window sill of the collarbone
 of the one I love.
 The grass spills out and catches a flame
 the trees stand up and scream there blissfullness.

 (chorus)

Get Me On

Protagonist --
 "on, get me on, get me on"

Sirens call / Greek chorus --
 "In time all will be told,
 the last petal will unfold"

Protagonist --
 "get me to the point where
 the truth will unfold,
 I wanna know."

The Hardest Thing

If we don't snap outa this, I don't know what
 I'm gonna do
 I'm just tryin' to make it up to you
 I see so many lovers policing each other
 Nagging and back Biting
 One upon another

 One thing I never want is for us to slip into this
 The hardest thing to bear is when love slips
 into this

 Love cries for freedom
 So let's keep it together (keep it together)
 Give it what it needs
 Love cries for freedom
 So let's keep it together (keep it together)
 Give it what it needs

 So sit down beside yourself and take a look around
 There are no chains here
 No shackles to be found
 And if we are to be
 Together you and me
 Then nothing will hold us here But our desire to be

 Love cries for freedom
 So let's keep it together (keep it together)
 Give it what it needs
 Love cries for freedom
 So let's keep it together (keep it together)
 Give it what it needs

 And if it's too much to bear, the pain and
 disappointment
 Then we gotta get up and set each other free
 Because in time all things will be revealed
 And the truth in our hearts
 We won't be able to help but feel

Ta Bouche Est Tabou (english version)
(lyrics by J.F. Berneron & F. Orrall)

Headlong down your hallway with a head full
 of sweet possibilities
 Though I know damn well here I go again hoping you'll
 see things my way
 My knock upon your door unanswered as it has been
 A dozen times before my love for you
 an unopened book
 Bittersweet bittersweet
 (Chorus)
 Ta bouche est tabou ta bouche est tabou
 Ta bouche est tabou ta bouche est tabou

 And my blood boils
 Your lips are closed to all alive and
 breathing ambiguity
 The fullness of them guarded private property
 I would love to taste the sweet forbidden fruit
 And leave upon my lips the savor of your juice
 (Chorus)
 And my blood boils
 (Chorus)

I've Got My Body

I've got my body I've got my soul
 I have so much to learn now this I know
 I might have eyes I might have fingers and toes
 But tell me what good are all those things
 if you ain't got your soul
 I've got my body I've got my soul
 Someday I might have a million dollars,
 then again I might have only
 One change of clothes
 You may deal in silver you may deal in gold
 But tell me what good are all those things
 if you ain't got your soul
 Now cut me bleeding down fallen
 if I should rob from my soul
 Let the sight of my blood remind me
 of the truths I do know
 Like the fleeting hold the body has on the soul
 I've got my body I've got my soul
 Help me keep it true help me keep it straight
 help me to heep hold
 Cut me bleeding down fallen
 if I should rob form my soul
 And let the sight of blood remind me
 of the truths I do know

 (Bridge)
 Because every time you lie deceive or cheer
 you lose a little bit
 Lose a little bit lose a little bit of your soul
 (Solo)
 (Bridge again)
 Cut me bleeding down fallen
 if I should rob from my soul
 And let the sight of blood remind me
 of the truths I do know
 I like the fleeting hold the body has on the soul
 I've got my body I've got my soul
 I've got my body I've got my soul
 I've got my body I've got my soul

Jack Ass Ginger

Sometimes like a dream you come cut
 from the same cloth
 The light in your palm so white I feel it in my heart
 Horse hoof imprint on the saddle back bare hide of
 a horse
 You come with steam of breath and Caligula's's head
 To me so lonesome and longing and so unsatisfied
 Even with all this beauty flooding deep into my eyes
 Stop for a moment and listen to the wind
 See the trees, leaves the sun they catch and
 their rustling din.

 (Chorus)
 Breathe deep fill up with relief don't go mad,
 don't go mad.
 Breathe deep fill up with relief don't go mad,
 don't go mad.

 Life is a long river learn from your past
 I been reading my history to learn what the others
 have seen
 Blood in the hollow of my heart
 Sweat on the skin of my chest
 Run a little bit faster now and breath a little deeper

 (Chorus)

 Come to me come to me set me free,
 Jack ass ginger, jack ass ginger.
 Come to me come to me set me free,
 Jack ass ginger, jack ass ginger

 Looking for a structure to call my own
 I reached down my throat
 and grabbed my rack of bones.
 Looking for a structure to call my own
 I grabbed my rack of bones
 I grabbed my rack of bones.

 Cut by a blade of grass fell slain by a drop of rain.
 Lay fallow fallen 40 feet onto pastures of catastrophe
 Sucked out set adrift at sea
 Floor board decked out with uncertainty
 In open doldrums oceans of unknowable emotions

 (Chorus)

 Just before the end a great efflorescence
 A plead to the will of the sea
 A great soul collective
 Painters pile paint upon paint
 Losing themselves to get what they see
 Enshrouded in a cocoon of doom
 And then set free

 (Chorus)

Be The One

Say that you'll be The one
 drowning in my heart, to be
 drowning in your arms, (take me)
 *3 summers heat, tangled up
 in sheets (take me) (* Susan
 game me that line)

 I'm as steady as a sea saw,
 and as longing as the wind,
 visions of you come so filling
 I swoon -- so far
 and distant and under the same
 moon, all I ask is you to
 Take Me
 under the strength of your
 words my heart is carried
 by a hundred birds (Take me)

 into death I do seep, into
 The arms of your hearts
 sleep (take me)

 Breathing as you where,
 Lying on The floor
 Take Me
 Take Me.

Tall

Standing tall as a woman but acting tough as can be
 Curling your lip directing your poetry at me
 When I know it was written for another time
 and place
 It doesn't touch me
 You're so bitter the past so close behind
 You're so curling and churning how could your
 angel give in
 When there's nothing to blame but your price
 (Chorus)
 And I guess you need an excuse to fall
 If you're gonna pretend to fly at all

 You can curl up cradled in your past
 But it isn't as warm there is it will nothing ever last
 Your painting your pictures with shards of your pain
 You'd prick your fingers for blood to paint
 You sing your strife like a sonnet I believe
 (Chorus)
 (Bridge) You sing your strife like a sonnet
 But you buy your hat with a sweat stained
 brim already on it
 Chaos and fate your enemies at least that's
 the way you've sold them to be
 You can put yourself on a cross but not for me
 (Chorus)

Building

Look at that Building
 It's so beautiful
 The certainly don't make them like that anymore
 Look at that detail
 Over that doorway
 That must've taken some time
 The curve of that stone
 And ornate design
 Look at that Building
 It's so beautiful
 They certainly don't make them like that anymore

Te Manu Pukarua
(Tahitian traditional)

 Te manu puka Rua
 e rua puka manu
 haka "Book" "Boom" "Boom"!
 hara raku Pomme de Terre

Blood and Thunder

Blood and thunder
 And all the sights and sounds of real life wonder

 Vim and vigor
 Full of piss and vinegar
 Wrapping around surround and bound
 By ligaments and skin
 Leaping along springingly long
 Bounding and pounding down leg walking sidewalks

 The moment of clear and absolute perception
 So immaculate at the moment of conception
 Strike spark on a lark of inspiration
 Getting it down a sort of netherworld dictation

 So I'll sharpen my pencil
 And rip my stencils asunder
 And ready my writer full of ribbon and wonder

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Pomegranate
 
pom.jpg
 
Pomegranate

Pomegranate...
 Like God's ankles, like God's feet.
 Pomegranate...
 Smooth like God's skin, smooth like God's bones.
 Fruit so wet, my tongue laid upon.
 She rises with the night, she sleeps with the dawn.
 Pomegranate...
 The tooth is a stone, the eye is a pit.
 Nipples are seeds, and the mind is the culprit.
 Milk blood flowing, stardust sleeps.
 Water light glistens, and the fireflies beat. Pomegranate...
 The pull of palms, along the skin of dreams.
 Discotheque and light beams.
 You know you're holding something, you know you see.
 Bring it to me, gimme seed.
 Pomegranate...
 Time is a bastard it won't let me patch things up.
 It's all firecracker paper and empty tin cups.
 Eyes to the sky and feet on the ground.
 Weighing all the consequences, pound by pound.
 Pomegranate in the palm of my hand.
 I was ruler of the kingdom, I was ruler of the land.

Catacombs

I'm dusting off the old ghosts now
 and they're giving me a run for my money.
 I'm down here with the skulls and bones,
 down here in the catacombs.

 Swimming through the blood of years,
 chipping away at this wall of tears.
 With no muslin hands to hold me,
 in the dark I was left, to find the light.
 Down here in the catacombs.

 Chorus:
 Open my mouth, the air dilutes my thoughts,
 words are like a string that I pull out of my mouth,
 like a tapeworm eating me from inside out,
 words are like a string that I pull out of my mouth.

 I can hear my friends and family
 walking and talking up there on the ground.
 We are all truly alone, down here in the catacombs.
 They can't help me now, I gotta chase these demons out,
 with no muslin hands to hold me,
 in the dark I was left to find the light.

Complicated

Wanna Get it right this time.
 Complicated is all right
 Complicated it's all right.
 Sorrow is an angel that comes to you in blue light
 and shows you what is wrong just to see if you'll set it right
 and I've fucked up so many times in my life --
 that I want to get it right this time.

 Complicated, it's all right.
 So tell me something someone and help me get it right,
 or hit me over the head, box me up and say good night.
 I can't stand to see myself go through the motions
 that bring me back into these same old sad emotions.

 Wanna get it right this time.

 what to get free with it
 (Tell me!)
 what to get free with it
 (Tell me!)
 what to get free with it
 (Tell me!)
 what to get free with it
 (Tell me!)

 Sometimes I get so afraid of life
 I'm not afraid of death
 I'm scared of going through this thing twice

 Wanna get it right this time
 Complicated it's all right

The Chain

Darling I'm giving you all my love.
 Don't want to do anymore of those things I've been guilty of.
 Show me the way to always be renewed.
 I want love to be our only food.
 Now I want to give it all for love.
 I was so blind with pain,
 I never thought I could find my way again.
 I was fading away, night was becoming day,
 I was killing myself in the subtlest of ways.
 Now I want to give it all for love.
 Got to get through to you, got to get you all over me.
 Now that I found you I'm part of a chain,
 I'm gonna gather you up and pull you in again.
 Let cynical tongues twist and spit, I want what lovers own.
 When you came into my life and said you wouldn't go away,
 I was astounded how everything seemed to fade away,
 everything of unimportance lay split open and splayed.
 Darling I was tired and you have given me strength.

 Now I want to give it all for love.
 Now that I've found you I'm part of the chain,
 gonna gather you up and pull you in again.
 Let cynical tongues twist and spit,
 I want what lovers own.

 I'm not dressing for success, I'm undressing for my lover.
 I'm not dressing for success, I'm undressing for my lover.

Big Constellation

Big constellation hanging over my head,
 a crooked and thorny starry crown.
 Illumination shine a light on my dreams.
 The last time I wore wings I was only three.
 The dead leaves of old life's longings crackled under my feet.
 But now the moonlight stalks me and the sun never lets me sleep.
 Seems my dreams will make a mockery out of me.

 Try as I might, blind as I am.
 I'm doing everything, I'm doing all that I can.
 But now the moonlight stalks me,
 and the sun never lets me sleep.
 Big constellation shine a light on my dreams.
 Big constellation shine a light on me.

Sandra at the Beach

I see Sandra at the beach,
 she's in her blue swim suit.
 And her breasts are lifted high
 by that tight seal skin knit, I know,
 cause they usually pull more towards her navel.
 She is moving out into the waves
 with long sinking steps pushing into the sand
 and the surf, it beats her chest.

 Well Sandra's with another woman of 35
 who's much more reserved,
 standing just out of reach of the waves
 licking up her feet.
 She's watching Sandra's every move.

 Sandra looks so good today I think that she is in love.
 Sandra feels those eyes and they feel good.
 Just like pin prick lips on the seat of her suit.
 And she is moving out into the waves,
 and she is so inspiring in love like this--
 and you know,
 it makes me wonder what kind of night they had last night.
 "Some kind of love," to steal a phrase or two--
 "No kinds of love are better than others."*
 Sandra looks so good today, I think that she is in love.
 Sandra looks so good today, I think that she is in love.

 Sandra's lover moves away from the beach
 into the parking lot, or the bathroom, I don't know, I couldn't see.
 But alone on the beach with all those faceless people
 Sandra loses her strength, somehow. Alone on the beach,
 her strength is lost.
 I don't know but I have seen
 that one and one don't make two, one and one make three.
 Sandra looks so good today, I think that she is in love.
 Sandra looks so good today, I think that she is in love.

*From "Some Kinda Love" by The Velvet Underground (Lou Reed)

Diamonds and Buttermilk

I wanna suck your guava juice,
 get down on my knees and slip in your passion fruit.
 I come in Diamonds and Buttermilk
 and swim right in and out of you 'til you shake-a like the chills.
 Licking the butter from your lillycoi lips
 and deep-sea diving for the oyster in your hips.
 Gonna suck your Kiwi right through my teeth
 and split your Pomegranate,
 gonna suckle on your seeds.
 So slippery I'm feeling greedy,
 gonna take you like smack to the needy.

 I seek the thunder of your love's blind wonder --
 give me everything. Give me everything.

 Love takes my clothes off, love pulls me down,
 I'm on my hands and knees crawling around on the ground.
 A man must make a beast of himself if he is ever to be truly free.

 So slippery, I'm feeling greasy,
 gonna take you like smack to the needy,
 gonna slip right in and pull you out.

Shu Zulu Za

The expulsion from the Garden of Eden
 is the beginning of life as I know it.
 Pressed from the bright light and into the darkness
 where the diamonds in the rough shine so brightly.
 Grappling apples and suckling grapes,
 savoring their sweetness and dissecting their tastes.
 Singing songs from the true life scenery,
 tales told in tongue, like J.J. Johnson's trombone bursting his lungs.

 Hey hey Shu Zulu Za, pow pow pow!
 Gonna pass right through you, gonna slip inside your skin.

 Cream lined lotion, liquid love light,
 flowing over folds of flesh -- slippery slow slide.
 Smooth of stone and the cut of cloth,
 smooth of skin, where the silk slid off.
 Milk like ladles, poured over shoulders,
 ponds of light, flowed over boulders,
 birds in branches called out like gunfire,
 and their wings set the sky afire.
 Black was clouds against the sky as the
 mountains disappeared into the night.

 There must've been angels after all!

 (Robert's monologue
 from "Story in Harlem Slang" -- Hurston)

 Wait till I light up my coal pipe
 and tell you about this zig called, Jelly.
 He was seal skin brown and papa tree top tall.
 He was born with this rough dry hair
 but when he laid on the grease
 and pressed it down over night with his stocking cap
 it had so many waves you got sea sick from lookin'.

 His Mama named him Marvell
 but after a month on Lenox Avenue
 he changed all that to, uh, Jelly.
 How come?
 Well he put it in the street that when it came to fulfilling the needs
 of the ladies,
 he was in a class by himself.
 And he told em, his name must be Jelly,
 cuz jam don't shake
 and that was what was on his sign.
 The stuff was there, it was mellow
 and whenever he was challenged on the right of his title
 by a Hardhead or a frail ear,
 he would just look em dead in the eye
 with a slice of ice and say,
 "You must just be dumb to the fact -
 you know I don't need no help,
 not with all the stuff I got."
 And then he would give em the pimp sign
 and percolate on down the avenue...

God's Gallipoli

Sloping head bent to wind as always.
 Slugging it out 'til the end, the boxer
 going over the top, in God's Gallipoli.

 Set me up Joe, body lean but mind obese,
 maple angel leaves once shifted in the trees
 when light was a truly wondrous thing.
 But now they crackle under my feet
 like the old life's longings
 of sailors once robust
 in buttons and coats now just mud and bone
 and teeth beneath me.

 Grist for star dust, the bone crushing rock of ages.
 Cancer took the spring from my lover and gave us forever Autumn.
 No thoughtless smoke now, no blind drink.
 No idle lunches dreaming of a whole 'nother world of things.
 It's down to brass tacks and saline sacks,
 vincristin injections and early detections.

 Take me in one swoop God don't let me dwindle.
 I watched the light leave my mother's bed-sick eyes.
 She's so scared--once gone, I kissed her cheek,
 and the cold of her skin held on my lips.
 It's hard to think, "so this is how it ends?"
 stretched out on a bed sheet,
 sorting through a wreckage of regrets.

 Back in the ring now,
 with eye held just high enough to see the prize.
 Head bend forward at hip into wind as always.

 Slugging it out 'til the end, the boxer.
 Going over the top, in God's Gallipoli.

 You know the thing that haunts me the most
 are all those crystalline moments,
 where adrenalin and light filled my belly and head.

 And the moon winked as if to say yes.
 And I ran in the cold night and sweated and it felt good.
 And I could hit the nail on the head
 and drive that fucker home.

 Going over the top, in God's Gallipoli...

The Shake of Big Hands

Could we ever feel as solid as the shake of big hands?
 It's such a long time getting over you.
 So many wimpy love songs.
 With I love you, I hate you.
 But know not what to do.
 The feel of your words makes food stick to my throat.
 You've got a piece of me now please let go.
 Listen to me now, it's so pathetic.
 What I've let the thought of you do to me.
 (the last verse that used to be there has apparently been cut out of the song:)

 I think about you still quite often in fact
 Especially when it rains
 And though you made me quite miserable
 I'd still see you again

Al Le Luia
We are in Heaven.

Words by Frank Orrall. Music by Frank Orrall & Poi Dog Pondering. Guava Juice Music 1995.

Edit Text

Natural Thing
 
natthing_lg.jpg
 
Octavio/Beautiful To Meet You
(lyrics by Frank Orrall)

 Sun's coming up
 We've been up all night long.
 I barely even know you,
 Yet there's this feeling so strong
 Like I knew you as a child.

 It's beautiful to meet you.

Ta Bouche Est Tabou (French Mix)
(lyrics by J.F. Berneron)

 Tes lèvres sont fermées
 A toute ambiguïté
 Vraiment pas moyen, non,
 De s'y promener
 J'aimais envoyer
 Des baisers par courrier
 Mais toutes mes lettres
 Ont été brûlées, jetées
 Et mon sang bout

 Ta bouche est tabou
 Tabou est ta bouche

 Tes lèvres sont fermées
 A toute ambiguïté
 Défense de toucher
 Propriété privée
 J'ai pourtant envoyé
 Des baisers par courrier
 Mais toutes mes lettres
 Sont restées cacheter
 Et mon sang bout
 Et mon sang bout
 J'aimerai tant goûter
 Au fruit défendu
 Garder sur mes lèvres
 La saveur de ton jus
 Ta bouche est tabou
 Ta bouche est tabou
 Ta bouche est tabou
 Tabou est ta bouche

Natural Thing
(Frank Orrall)

 I want you, I've got to have you.

 Love comes into the room,
 Everybody stand up.
 'Cuz there's no doubt about it,
 Love is sacred.

 I've got you in my skin.
 It's a Natural Thing.

 I want you, I've got to have you.

 The bright light of love,
 Skin so precious...
 All my love and devotion...

 It feels so good to be moving with you.
 It's a Natural Thing

Come Together**
(Gillespie, Innes, Young)

 Kiss me, won't you won't you kiss me?
 Won't you won't you kiss me?
 Lift me right out of this world,
 Trip me, won't you won't you trip me?
 Won't you won't you trip me?
 Lift me ride me to the stars.

 I'm free, you're free.
 I want you to touch me
 Come touch me.
 Now it's all too much.
 All too much.
 All too much.

 Come together oh oh.
 Come together oh oh.
 Come together as one.
 Come together as one.
 Up and away.
 Come together oh yeah.
 Up and away.

Diva (Live At House Of Sound)
(Frank Orrall)

Berry
(Music By Frank Orrall, Words By Julio Davis)

 First thing that caught me was the hips.
 Then the absence of make-up kits --
 So I waited for the others to present they're skits,
 and I was movin' kind of slow even tho' I had my zips on.

 It's born! The understanding two share,
 movin' kinda slow 'cause you know I had a few scares.
 I can feel the flood gates opening.
 Hope you can understand
 that I wanna give it all to you.
 But we gotta move slow --
 hope you know --
 that chemical reactions are rare if you know you.
 Damn! It feels so good
 I got a partner to grow with flow with kick it to a show with.

 Take my hand as we step Chicago style --
 smooth and low with rhythm to go.
 Herb Kent. Boy the man is Heaven sent.
 Spinnin old wax for the old school macks.
 And your presence in my arms is natural enough
 for me to feel the truth in your words.
 Chalk one up for nerds!
 And I notice that you're teachin me by being yourself
 and what you go through.
 Don't care if I say no to tofu.

 Yeah and wanna throw your beeper out the window.
 Cause you're happy to jump inside of my pinto.
 You saw it in me where few others did --
 The way I needed you to.
 Feeding time at the zoo is what it's like out there
 but kick yourself if you settle.
 Words can't express when the bond turns metal,
 my friend, you see it's not about the notches on your belt
 and for me it's all about the way your feelings get felt.
 So baby lemme know if you're with me.
 Let's absorb the planet and live goddamnit yeah baby.
 Lemme know if you're with me, we glide like Peggy Flemming
 'cause my team is always winning.
 Hope you're happy 'cause this is the beginning.
 Everything else is petty and I know that I'm ready.
 Love American style.
 Everytime I think about it I smile.

That's The Way Love Is*
(Lawson, Burke, Stingily)

 Oh, Oh, Oh, hey, hey

 Two people, make a vow to stay together,
 and live and love each other forever.
 They both promise to love a lifetime --
 funny thing when they both change their minds.

 They both go their separate ways.
 Love is just a memory.
 But, young hearts never stay sad long.
 Another love soon comes along.

 That's the way love is.

 Two people, don't get along.
 Deep down in, they both have feelings very strong.
 They try hard to conceal it.
 Their hearts burn because they both know they can feel it.

 Love is leaving -- without reason.
 Feelings change just like seasons.
 And no, nothing's the same.
 There's no use in pretending I can hide the pain, no.

 That's the way love is.

 Sometimes it's so unfair,
 When the feeling's no longer there.
 That's the way love is.
 Sometimes it's gratifying.
 Love's feeling -- ain't no denying.
 But that's the way love is.

 That's the way love is.

Spend My Life (Moorea Mix)
(Frank Orrall)

 Gonna spend my life together with you.

Hard Sometime
(Lyrics By Frankie Knuckles)

 It ain't easy being you --
 struggling every day,
 searching for the truth.
 I know it's hard sometimes
 trying to find a friend --
 someone you can trust
 who will be there in the end.

 But you must keep on,
 keep on keeping on.
 And one day you'll find
 someone who will be kind.
 From that moment on,
 all things will be made new.
 All the love you give,
 it's gonna find it's way to you.

 I know it's hard sometimes.

 It aint' easy being you --
 feeling how you feel,
 searching for the truth.
 I know it's hard sometimes,
 trying to be for real
 with someone you trust
 who understands just how you feel.

 But you must keep on,
 keep on keeping on.
 And one day you'll find
 someone who will be kind.
 From that moment on,
 all things will be made new.
 All the love you give,
 it's gonna find it's way to you.

 I know it's hard sometimes.

Jealous
(Frank Orrall)

 I can't help it.
 You give me no reason to be --
 It's all up inside my head,
 Some shit I learned a long time ago
 I can't help it

 I try thinking about it --
 logically talk myself out of it,
 But I can't help it,
 I still get jealous.

 I don't want to share you with any other men.
 is that selfish?
 Well, I can't help it.
 I get jealous.

 The last thing I want to do,
 is try and control you.
 I love you,
 I want to get close to you.

 I've seen things fall apart,
 disolve and disapate,
 to see our love grow stronger and deeper,
 would just be fucking great.

 I can't help itI get jealousThey say if you love someone,
 be strong and set them free.
 Understand me I feel strongly,
 I want you to be free with me.

 I can't help it

 I get jealous

Tracery / Tana Dery Na Edit Text

Sweeping up the cutting room floor
 
sweeping.jpg
 
 
(lyrics for this record coming soon)
 
 

Edit Text

In seed comes fruit
 
in-seed_.jpg
 
01: had i known:
had i known you were lying in my bed
all the while, i'd have come home sooner
i was just out killing time
thinking about you all the while
i've never known a love like this before
i fall between so happy, and so self unsure
i'm falling,  nervous and excited it's true
had i known, i'd have come home sooner
6 a.m. and you're gone
and i'm watching the dawn come on
______________________
music and lyrics - Frank Orrall
string arrangement: Susan Voelz
rhodes and synth: Rick Gehrenbeck
bass: Ron Hall
piano, synths & voice: Frank Orrall
strings: Susan Voelz & Alison Chesley
horns: Paul Mertens
drums: Chris Miskel

02: you move me:
i saw you standing there
underneath the window of my soul
and i couldn't keep from hoping that
someday you, i could hold
you move me,
i can't keep from trying,
no one is mine in my mind like you now
i only wish i could hold you now

nobody knows and no one cares
that i can't keep from looking at you - i stare
if i had one wish it would be
to tell you that ilong to hold you near me

you move me,
i can't keep from trying,
no one is mine in my mind like you now
though i don't know you in my heart
i hold you - wish i could hold you now
you move me

you don't know me, like i know you
i wanna know your name
i wanna show you about me

i'm wondering will i lose the way?
will there be no me?
will i live in misery?
with out you...
_____________________
music: Frank Orrall and Tim Gant
lyrics: Carla Prather
string arrangement: - Susan Voelz with Alison Chesley
horn arrangement: - Paul Mertens
vocals: Carla Prather, Kornell Hargrove & Charlette Wortham
piano: Tim Gant
bass: Ron Hall
rhodes and synth: Rick Gehrenbeck
acoustic guitar: Frank Orrall
strings: Susan Voelz & Alison Chesley
horns: Paul Mertens, Dave Max Craford & steve berry
congas, shaker, wood blocks & bells: Leddie Garcia
drums: Chris Miskel
hand claps: Nick Sjostrom and Frank

03: a love rains down:
one drop of rain on the tip of the tongue
it's 4 a.m. and the night is in my lungs
shirtless on the roof top
waiting for dawn to come on
the clouds are rolling in from the lake
and the rain is coming down

birds are singing in the trees
they think it's dawn
with all the lightning
feeling the wind on my skin
i realize i've been blind
a love rains down on me

i'm open
the night is in my lungs
i'm open
the light is in my lungs
a love rains down on me
i love the rain
___________________
music - Underworld
lyrics - Frank Orrall
string arrangement: - Susan Voelz with Alison Chesley
vocals: Frank Orrall, Charlette Wortham, Carla Prather & Kornell
Hargrove
bass: Ron Hall
keyboards: Rick Gehrenbeck
strings: Susan Voelz & Alison Chesley
congas & shaker: Leddie Garcia
drums: Khari parker
additional synth, pidgeons & brushed snare: Frank Orrall
(Hawaiian Pidgeon samples recorded by Kit Ebersbach)

04: 10 - 28:
lets go sailing, just us two
ne dis rien il vaut mieux
we'll leave behind what troubles do
car maintenant, il faut que l'on s'enfuie
en avion seulement nous
faisons une ballade mais pas partout
si on me vois je m'en fous
je le veux comme toujours
for the mind an escapade
amène le, amène les papiers
amène le truc si ce n'est pas toi qui va rouler
take some time to escape
for the mind an escapade
tires et respires et
après on va lui passer...
____________________________
music: Frank Orrall and Paul Mertens
lyrics: Charlette Wortham, Earl Talbot, Tamarra Love
vocals: Charlette Wortham
bass: Ron Hall
rhodes: Rick Gehrenbeck
Strings: Susan Voelz
live Drums: Earl Talbot
congas, shaker, shield drum, wood blocks, cow bells and ago agos's: leddie garcia
synths, samples: Frank Orrall
sax: Paul Mertens

05: daytrippin':
is it the blue sky,
or is it the moon?
...the rainy days in june?
or the night... under the stars with you
that make me so happy?
i cannot understand it
this isn't the way i planned it.
you got me goin' wild
you know how to make me smile
and with you is where i wanna be
- so free
you're so savoir faire - so debonair
not a hurt in the world
no not a care
got a little bit a feeling
with a little bit of healing
want you there
need you there with me
so free
_______________________
music: Frank Orrall & Tim Gant
lyrics: Carla Prather
orchestral arrangement: Paul Mertens and Susan Voelz
flute & woodwinds: Paul Mertens
vocals: Carla Prather, Kornell Hargove & Charlette Wortham
vibes: Joe Sonnefeldt
strings: Susan Voelz & Alison Chesley
bass: Ron Hall
rhodes: Rick Gehrenbeck
drums, percussion & samples: frank Orrall
congas, tri-angle & shaker: Leddie Garcia

06: hangover:
the sun is blazing, the earth is glowing
underground the tempo's slowing
and i regret that i'm not over last night's hangover
i had good time telling you all about me
and learning all about you
i don't regret that i am yet
hung over
and over it seems i'm unable to get back to me

the music's caught me up with your smile
and i kept saying "self, don't go wild"
got my heart racing and my soul aching
so hung over, since - now i know ya

i can't explain it.  i don't know why,  but i can't contain it.
thinking of you (thinking baby)
if you're thinking of me too (about you baby)
thinking of last night
hungover in your mind
______________________
music: Frank Orrall, Tim Gant
lyrics: Carla Prather
horn arrangement: Paul Mertens
string arrangement: Paul Mertens & Susan Voelz
vocals: Carla Prather, Kornell Hargrove & Charlette Wortham
electric sitar & guitar: Fareed Haque
clavinet and synths: Rick Gehrenbeck
synth: Tim Gant
bass: Ron Hall
strings: Susan Voelz & Alison Chesley
horns: Paul Mertens, Dave Max Craford & steve berry
bongo samplege: Martin Stebbing
drums: Kahari parker
additional guitar: Nick Sjostrom
 

07: keep the faith:
(for cecilia mundy, in memory of greg mundy)

"the pain is too strong, it's too hard.
the hole in my heart is too big."
(phone message from cecilia on the death of her husband)
"keep the faith"
(phone message from frank orrall senior)

so, you think that you just can't make it?
life's put alot on youyou think you just can't take it.
don't give up, don't you dare give in
you can make it, you can win
just keep the faith
are you seeking deep down with in?
said you even thought about ending your struggling
don't give up, don't you dare give in
keep the faith
faith is the substance of what you hope for
the evidence of things that you just can't see
but you gotta keep the faith
______________
music: Frank Orrall
lyrics: Charlette Wortham &  Frank Orrall
string arrangement: Paul Mertens and Susan Voelz
vocals: Charlette Wortham, Frank Orrall, Carla Prather & kornell Hargrove
sampled voices: Cecilia Mundy & Frank Orrall sr. - via phone machine
flute & woodwinds: Paul Mertens
piano, synths & samples: Frank Orrall
congas: Leddie Garcia
rhodes: Rick Gehrenbeck
live Drums: Chris Miskel& earl talbot
strings: Susan Voelz & Alison Chesley
string bass: ron hall

08: true:
do what you know is true
you've got to enjoy this life
so many people are caught in situations
that they don't want to be in,
i know it's hard to make the changes
but you're no good to your self,
or anybody else if you're not happy
do what you know is true
_____________________
music and lyrics: Frank Orrall
additional song arrangement: Leddie Garcia & Ron Hall
string arrangement: Susan Voelz
vocals: Frank Orrall,Susan Voelz, Carla Prather & Jacqueline Wilson
piano: Tim Gant
bass: Ron Hall
rhodes: Rick Gehrenbeck
strings: Susan Voelz & Alison Chesley
flute: Paul Mertens
congas, bongos, ganza's, bells, chocalho's, tri-angle
& miscellaneous percussion: Leddie Garcia
drums: Chris Miskel

09: so real:
it's such a simple thing
you know you got me
so real it's probably what you want? with what i need...
so real you know you got me
so real - you make me feel
and i'm so inspired by you and your way
so real you make me higher - i'm so inspired

so real that i wanna let you know how
i feel for you baby, way down deep inside

so real, so real, how real can it get
every time I see you, I break out into a sweat
I feel the same way that I did when we met
and I feel your strength, but I don't take it as a threat
connection, best in my recollection
back off brother she is under my protection
question: 'who do you love' like Krusty?'
the rose you gave, I'makeep it til' it's dusty
It's obvious what you got shine so bright
keep her little moves on the dance floor tight like
she don't give a fuck about what anybody thinks
mind is a garden, body like Brinks
not movie star real, but the real kind of real
it's the everyday, everyway natural appeal
others fell off, looks like you gon' make it
watch kung-fu and smoke a j naked
vegetarian, brings home her own bacon
you know my style baby, stirred not shaken
the reality is the feeling is abundant
and I tell it to you cause it never gets redundant
like Teddy Pendagrass: you got, you got, you got what I need
baby
you and me just the same breed,
baby
"Stu are you coming to the party?"  maybe...
If you think I'd have more fun there, you're crazy
than staying home and kickin' it with my lady
so real thats it's almost physical
and to the world, we are happily invisible
so answer the cell, cause I'm on the other end
I know you just left, but I'm missing you again
this train is at an end, please gimme yo ticket
and sit back and listen to my home girl kick it
_____________________________
music: Frank Orrall & Rick Gehrenbeck
lyrics: Julio Davis, Frank Orrall & Carla Prather
vocals: Julio Davis, Carla Prather, Kornell Hargrove, Dana Divine,
Jacqueline Wilson & frank Orrall
piano: Tim Gant
clavinet: Rick Gehrenbeck
hand drums: Kahil' El'Zabar
congas & bongos: Leddie Garcia
drums & bass: Frank Orrall
electric guitar: Fareed Haque
hi hat: Earl Talbot

10: hotel seze:
(i don't know where it will lead me...)
inside my head i can't imagine complete serenity
i let the music sooth my soul as it takes over me
i can't keep quiet, i can't keep still
complete devotion of my will
it seems this melody was made for me

got me day dreaming about loves of the past
i'm feeling kind'a lonely but it must be
the music that i grasp
can't find my way - so much confusion,
i lost a day - the illusion of my misery
lost inside this melody

i don't know which way to go
i'm lost inside of this music
as i use it
sooth me, move me
i'm in paradise when i'm alone
it makes me high
i don't know where it will lead me...
______________
music - Frank Orrall
lyrics - Carla Prather
string arrangement: Susan Voelz
vocals: Carla Prather
piano: Robert Irving III
acoustic guitar: Fareed Haque
flute: Paul Mertens
drums: Kahari Parker
strings: Susan Voelz & Alison Chesley
bass: Ron Hall
congas, ganza's, ago ago's & tri-angle: Leddie Garcia
vibes & synth: Frank Orrall

11: simple song:
i'm happy to see you everytime i see you coming my way
i get so excited - and calm somehow deep down inside
i just wanna state this simply, inside this simple song
- i just wanna love you

i love it when we're out walking
your arm entwined in mine
i love how it's unfolding
i love how we're just taking our time
who knows where we're going
it's nothing we can guide
i just wanna be in this
i just wanna be inside
(your beautiful eyes)

i never said grace before dinner
ever since my father died
and when we prayed in soul kitchen last night
you know it felt so sweet inside

i wish you could've met my father
i know he would have enjoyed you
he was complex in his own way
but he was a good and simple man too

and i don't mean to make you nervous...
but you know i wish you could've meet my mother too
she swung from vivacious to blue,
but encouraged to in everything i ever wanted to do.

but this is just a simple song.

you know...
sometimes in this life
i wonder how anyone makes it through?
you know,
lay down in your final hour
without worrying about the things
that you wonder if you could undo.

but this is just a simple song.

i'm turning my back on words now
no more weighing the worth of observations.
the poet's voice dried with the search for perfection,
and i just wanna sing a simple song.

i could feel the empty egg shells
of dreams in the hollow of my skull.
blown by taunting winds across floors
of a rememberance of an enthusiasm when,
... as a young boy full of trust and belief in the aether
(and my own abilty to pull the sword from the stone),
i could envision it all!
breathe life into it and give it wings.
hold the gift of "dove" in my hands and set it free.

where do the souls of unrealized dreams go?
do they twist and turn with incompletion?
or vaporize like butterfies in fields of zen like resolution?

but no.... i'm turnin' my back on words now.
- i just wanna sing a simple song.

(all the while the wind was in the willows,
and the seven pillars was in my wisdom,
-  the seven pillars was in my whim-som!)
______________________
music and words: Frank Orrall
string arrangement: Susan Voelz
woodwind arrangement: Paul Mertens
drums, electric guitars, piano, synth & vocals: Frank Orrall
flute & woodwinds: paul mertens
strings: Susan Voelz & Alison Chesley
bass: Ron Hall
backing vocals: Kornell Hargrove & Susan Voelz

12: in seeds come fruit:
Go now.
Go north on your own.
Take your time.  Look at light.  There's more blue.
Give up that hurt in your fingers.
Let your soul find you.

Go now, love.
Love the cold.  Listen for ice.
Wear the snow like a feeling.
And one day you won't have to go
to be, to be broken;
to be, to be whole.
Let your soul find you.

And one day you won't have to go.
You can trust me.
It already shows.
Let your soul find you.
____________
music: Frank Orrall
lyrics: Susan Voelz &  kahil El Zabar (w/ traditionalyerba)
vocals: Susan Voelz, Kahil El Zebar & Jacqueline Wilson
acoustic guitar & percussion: Frank Orrall
talking drum & percussion: Kahil' El'Zabar
 

Edit Text

        "7"

7-poi-dog-pondering-cd-cover.jpg
Every record is a new adventure for us, and on this outing, we were in the mood to make a 'rock and soul' record. Because we control the purse strings, we spared no expense. We wanted a warm dynamic sound, so we recorded to analogue tape (when ever we could) & used old school effects like spring reverb and space echo in place of digital effects. We locked out the studio and lived in it. We employed every every instrument we had to give each song it's own unique texture.  After having a lot of fun with sequencers and samplers on the last 2 records, we put them aside for this one - we wanted a rougher, more immediate sound to better serve these new songs. We shied away from click tracks and let the songs speed up if they wanted to. We wanted a record that would feel good to play live.
INSTRUMENTS USED TO MAKE THIS RECORD:
6 and 12 string acoustic and electric guitar, bass, drums, vibes, charango, guzheng, ukulele, tambourine, bandoneon, jaw harp, super tarana, xylophone, violin, cello, casio, vocals, trumpet, melotron, stylophone, electric mando cello, space echo, fender rhodes, wurlitzer, synth, piano, saxophone, trombone, baritone sax, omni chord, shakers, cow bells and hand claps.
NOTES ON THE ART WORK:
In an age where digital downloads rule, we still care about the art work. We wanted something the listener could hold and read while listening. The art work for 7 is loaded. The cover art is by the Chicago artist DZINE, The booklet art is comprised of sculptures by the Italian artist Virginio Ferrari from his 1960's works. To give that large format album artwork feel we added an additional poster you can unfold which contains Video stills of various works by Chicago artist (and son of Virginio) Marco Ferrari, cooking recipes from his mother Marisa Ferrari and a prose piece by Frank Orrall. The complete package was designed by Alberto Ferrari and Frank Orrall.
NOTES ON FORMAT:
"7" is available on c.d. and digital down load - A Limited 100 pressing 5 song Vinyl E.P. was sold at shows.
NOTES ON THE MASTERING:
You will notice that "7" is a little quieter than most pop recordings these days. That was intentional. There is a volume war going on in modern music, because everyone wants to appear louder. This has lead to seriously compressed... even distorted recordings, that frankly sound bad. We put too much into the quality of recording to let this happen at the final stage, so we found a mastering house (Chicago Mastering Services) who feel the same way and they did a fantastic job preserving the integrity of the recording and let it blossom.
Produced by: Frank Orrall, Martin Stebbing and Ted Cho
Recorded by: Ted Cho and Martin Stebbing
Mixed by: Martin Stebbing, Ted Cho and Frank Orrall
(assistant at Wall2Wall: Frank Caruso)
String arrangements by: Susan Voelz
Horn arrangements by: Dave Max Crawford
Recorded in Chicago at: Wall2Wall Recording & 4deuces Recording / Clava Studios  
Mastering by: Jason Ward at Chicago Mastering Services  

PERFECT MUSIC:
Perfect music, lying by me in my bed. perfect music, talking to me in my head.
“go on boy - sing your song, with your donkey jaw and your tambourine.
it’s all right! go on, tell all the people...
just livin’ in a dream...”
(italian): posa il tuo capo sul mio seno,
chiudi gli occhi e riposati con il mio canto.
(english translation): lay your head down upon my breast,
close your eyes and rest with my song.
perfect music gonna comb my hair when I’m dead.
perfect music talkin’ to me in my head.

______________________________________________
Bass: Ron Hall Drums / Electric Guitar and Vocals: Frank Orrall
Electric Guitar: Ted Cho
Upright Piano: Seth Drake
Violins: Susan Mary Voelz, Inger Petersen Carle & Andra Kulans
Electric Guitar: Dag Juhlin
Italian lyric Chanteuse: Mistress Stephanie
Italian Translation: Marisa and Marco Giovanni Ferrari

STICKY:
I’m gonna stick to you baby, gonna have to pry
me loose, and all those other lovers...
I’m gonna have to cut them loose.
I’m gonna stick to you baby,
you’re gonna have to put me to use...
and all those other lovers...
you’re gonna have to cut them loose.
I’m gonna love you baby, with
the rough hands of a man
I’m gonna kiss you baby, as deeply as I can.
don’t you see baby? you’re like the flint rock that
knocks the flame on me?
all you gotta do is love me.
don’t you see it could be so easy?
I don’t need much... I need everything!

______________________________________________
Bass: Ron Hall
Drums:Dan Leali
Electric Guitar and Plucked Piano: Dag Juhlin
Clavinet, Synth & Wurlitzer: Rick Gehrenbeck
2nd Chair Clavinet and Synth: Dave Max Crawford
Vocals and Percussion: Frank Orrall
Violin: Susan Mary Voelz
Backing Vocals: Charlette Wortham, Kornell Hargrove & Susan Mary Voelz

LEMON DROP MAN: (for Matthew)
if I could cook all the love in a teaspoon, and stick the needle in your heart... I wouldn’t have to lose you. if I could cook all this love in a teaspoon, and stick the needle in your heart...
I wouldn’t have to lose you. man man lemon drop man lemon drop man!
if I could kill the fucking dealer that sold you that dirty brown bullshit...
I wouldn’t have to lose you. if I could take all of this love and stick it in your living heart...
I wouldn’t have to lose you.
“walk a little bit softly now... house panther with your tennis shoes on...
coming down softly now...”
coming down milwaukee (ave.) in daylight, with your skokie little saunter on... sun pass right
through you! tumblin’ with your lover the moonlight... you cut it just a little too tight...
I don’t wanna lose you!
______________________________________________
Bass: Ron Hall
Drums, Electric Guitar, Jaw Harp and Vocals: Frank Orrall
Electric Guitar: Dag Juhlin
Electric Guitar: Ted Cho
Hand Claps: Capt’n John Manion, Seth Drake, Ted Cho & Dave Max Crawford
Trumpet: Dave Max Crawford
Baritone Saxophone: Nate LePine
Trombone: Nick Broste
Tenor Saxophone: Josh Bell
Wurlitzer: Rick Gehrenbeck
Backing Vocals: Charlette Wortham, Kornell Hargrove, Susan Mary Voelz & Dag Juhlin

 
BUTTERFLIES:
butterflies floating around my eyes. hip bone’s belly bowl, giddy intestines inside.
I’m singing like a humming bird, with your honey in me sweetly.
a softness in my ribcage, with you naked lying next to me.
 fall’s coming down upon us, memories rustling leaves... of all the years we’ve know each-other, and all the things we’ve seen. the trees will soon be turning, as I’m turning in to meet you. you’re lovely to me truly, come down upon me please. come on, come on, come on...
 I’m a man with a history and some of it’s not pretty,
ask me any question I’m trying to live truthfully. I’m standing in your door way with my cellophane skin, will you receive me after all the things i’ve been?
 the heart’s temptation opens like an ocean, and spreads like an after shock of a soft explosion. I’m standing at your gateway with my cellophane skin, will you receive me after all the things I’ve been?

______________________________________________
Bass: Ron Hall
Drums, Acoustic Guitar, Vibes and Vocals: Frank Orrall
Electric Guitar: Dag Juhlin
Organ: Dave Max Crawford
Violins: Susan Mary Voelz & Inger Petersen Carle
Viola: Andra Kulans
Synth: Rick Gehrenbeck
Backing Vocals: Charlette Wortham, Kornell Hargrove, Susan Mary Voelz & Abra Moore

FROM THIS MOMENT ON:
if I pull you down... my arm around your neck,
if you push your chest... up against my back,
with your breath in my ear... and a palm upon my breast - are you sure? if you open your mouth... and kiss me with your tongue,
if you open your shirt... open to a girl.
if you pull my dress... up over my head, are we sure?
from this moment on... everything will change...
your life has been a poem... written with a broken wrist,
I’ve watched you fall in love... and I’ve seen you fall apart,
if I straddle your hips... and push your hands against the wall, I will know you now.
Your life is yours again!

______________________________________________
Bass: Ron Hall
Drums: Dan Leali
Electric Guitar & 12 String Acoustic Guitar: Dag Juhlin
Acoustic Guitar and vocals: Frank Orrall
Violin, Vocals, Electric Guitar, Casio SK-5 keyboard: Susan Mary Voelz
Trumpet and Organ: Dave Max Crawford
Baritone Saxophone: Nate LePine
Trombone: Nick Broste
Tenor Saxophone: Josh Bell
Fender Rhodes & Wurlitzer: Rick Gehrenbeck
Backing Vocals: Charlette Wortham, Kornell Hargrove & Susan Mary Voelz

PALM LEAF EFFIGY: (F. Orrall)

ever flowing as an easter morning, burning like a palm leaf effigy,
I had to kill the old old me. free to be who I need to be.
seems I'm always breaking it down, hurting all the ones I love,
but how do I ever break free to become the things I need to be?
     I don't care about right or wrong anymore, I just wanna feel free to be.
people say "you're such a nice guy" - but only cause I'm trying to be.
deep down and way inside I'm a bastard, and I can lie and cheat,
but I'm a coward when it comes to hurting someone else and disappointing.
     driving iron through the palms of my hands again,
I hung my girlfriend out to dry. I broke free in the meanest of ways,
I fucked somebody else in a hungry haze.
I drove a stake through the heart of the moment when she first trusted me,
I was feelingcaught in relation...
...but now I feel strangely free...

______________________________________________
Drums, Up-right bass, Wurlitzer, Guzheng, Acoustic and Electric Guitars and Vocals: Frank Orrall
Violin: Susan Mary Voelz, Inger Petersen Carle & Andra Kular
Trombone: Nick Broste

RUSTED WEATHER:
you are so beautiful like rusted weather, come on baby... rain on me. I love your thunder, I love your stormy weather,
I love your sunshine, I love it all together...
this world is complicated, I need you baby, rain on me, come on baby... shine on me. tell me baby, what ever your heart desires,
it would please me baby to set your soul on fire...
like two birds flying in strong winds and rain... let it rain...

______________________________________________
Bass: Ron Hall
Drums, Percussion, Glockenspiel and Vocals: Frank Orrall
Electric Guitar: Dag Juhlin
Piano: Seth Drake
Fender Rhodes: Rick Gehrenbeck
Violins: Susan Mary Voelz & Inger Petersen Carle
Viola: Andra Kulans
Trumpet: Dave Max Crawford
Baritone Saxophone: Nate LePine
Trombone: Nick Broste
Tenor Saxophone: Josh Bell
Backing Vocals: Charlette Wortham, Kornell Hargrove & Susan Mary Voelz
Congas: Jean-Christophe Leroy

BABY TOGETHER:
maybe we could make a baby together, rhythm movin’ smoothly getting wetter and wetter, I feel an ocean moving in your arms, maybe we could make a baby together. sun soaked fingers open my eyes, heaven in an instant you made me cry. intuition in me kiss after kiss,  ain’t nothin’ happening more than this. maybe we could make a baby together, rhythm movin’ smoothly getting wetter and wetter, I feel an ocean moving in your arms, maybe we could make a baby together. I feel good... just like a natural man, my eyes are the softest they’ve ever been. WE WEAVING MOONLIGHT IN A LOOM OF LIMBS, resting ourselves -then we begin again. “my clock keeps ticking you can come inside”, I feel an ocean moving in your eyes, feet on the ground with my head in your sky, girl... maybe we could make a... sun supple soft, sandalwood skin, milk flowing under -deep within. I’m like a river that loves to run, wild and rushing along your river bank skin. maybe we could make a baby together, I’m bound to you girl but I don’t feel tethered.
______________________________________________

Bass: Ron Hall
Drums: Dan Leali
Trumpet, Stylophone, Tubular Bells: Dave Max Crawford
Baritone Saxophone: Nate LePine
Trombone: Nick Broste
Tenor Saxophone: Josh Bell
Acoustic Guitar and Vocals: Frank Orrall
Electric Guitar: Dag Juhlin
Violin: Susan Mary Voelz
Fender Rhodes & Wurlitzer: Rick Gehrenbeck
Backing Vocals: Charlette Wortham, Kornell Hargrove, Dag Juhlin & Susan Mary Voelz
Congas: Jean-Christophe Leroy

 
HEAVEN ONLY KNOWS:
heaven only knows now how much I love you, heaven only knows now if you care.
I’ve been trying to tell you everything... heaven only knows now if I dare...
heaven only knows now how much you need me, heaven only knows how much I bare.
I’ve been trying to tell you everything... heaven only knows now if I dare...

______________________________________________
Bass: Ron Hall
Drums: Dan Leali
Acoustic Guitar, Ukulele, Cuatro, Electronic Treatments and Vocals: Frank Orrall
Electric Guitar: Dag Juhlin
Organ: Dave Max Crawford
Violin and Casio keyboard: Susan Voelz
Backing Vocals: Abra Moore, Charlette Wortham, Kornell Hargrove & Dag Juhlin

IN COMES THE NIGHT:
in comes the night, she’s streaming through your window, searching with her light for the
head upon your pillow. she is only waiting for you to let her into your mellow head.
...less black than white, more milky grey and fibrous; the mind must be a demon thing to
make you search the past. the skull is an old thing, dug up in the dirt in the night.
and it’s moonlight who knows you when you’re lonely.
yeah, it’s moonlight who knows just where to find me.
up drunk smooth and tight, in your noble degradation. dreaming through a window, sifting
through aberrations. romancing the drunken poet who sparks your imagination in the night.

______________________________________________
Drums: Dan Leali
Acoustic Guitar, Bass, Charango, Bandoneon, Electronic Treatments and Vocals: Frank Orrall
Electric Guitar and Mandolin: Ted Cho
Violin: Susan Voelz
Tasty Bass Lick: Ron Hall

OUTTA YER HEAD:
come on down out of your head now, and into your heart
standin’ on a corner with your boots on, waitin’ on your gamelan song,
every-time you try so hard it always comes out wrong,
slick black angel on the street, still wet behind the ears, tryin’ to cut your teeth,
but heaven only holds the ones who let it be...
an old slant 6 out on the freeway, heading way out west,
trying to lose our way,
every time I lose myself, I always wound up found...

______________________________________________
Bass: Ron Hall
Drums, Acoustic Guitar, Charango, Glockenspiel, Tambourine and Vocals: Frank Orrall
Electric Guitar: Ted Cho
Hammond Organ: Rick Gehrenbeck
Backing vocals: Abra Moore, Susan Voelz,Charlette Wortham & Kornell Hargrove

CANDY:
I’m in the mood for something good,
I’m not bad man... you misunderstood,
lay your coat down in the grass... open your arms baby...
yes, yes... yes! you’re acting coy like maybe you would,
you say you haven’t but you you think you could? Yes!
I think you can, man... I think that you should!
gonna turn you upside down...
I’m gonna eat you from the inside out!
I’m in the mood for something good,
I’m in the mood for candy!
______________________________________________
Bass: Ron Hall
Trumpet and Organ: Dave Max Crawford
Baritone Saxophone: Nate LePine
Trombone: Nick Broste
Tenor Saxophone: Josh Bell
Drums, Acoustic and Electric Guitars and Vocals: Frank Orrall
Electric Guitar: Dag Juhlin
Backing Vocals: Abra Moore, Susan Mary Voelz, Dag Juhlin, Charlette Wortham, Kornell Hargrove

SUPER TARANA (little golden deer):
thinking is the culprit... “fuck the mind!” cut off all your heads and lose the brain inside. you say you don’t know what to do with your life?!? well you’re living it right now so let your soul decide! love all over you........awww I’m gonna come all over you, “let’s go!” super tarana “little golden deer!” love’s the only thing that can crush the fear, of all the lives you’ve lived in so many years... man are you so strong... that you can hold all those tears?! spread your love all over me......awww!!! come all over me!
 the mind is the culprit but the soul is clear, listen to your body, use your heart to hear, fuck all those regrets and that guilty feeling, ‘cause THE DEAD HAVE ONLY LOVE LEFT TO GIVE THE LIVING!

______________________________________________
Bass and Super Tarana: Martin Stebbing
Drums: Dan Leali
Electric Mandola and Electric Guitar: Ted Cho
Hand Claps and Gentlemen’s Chorus: Capt’n John Manion, Seth Drake, Ted Cho and Dave Max Crawford
Vocals, additional Super Tarana & Octave Guitar: Frank Orrall
Electric 6 and 12 String Guitar: Dag Juhlin
Violins: Susan Mary Voelz, Inger Petersen Carle & Andra Kulans

SPACE DUST:
and you know... we’re on our own, in our own reality. and you know, that when it snows, it falls because of gravity... ain’t no little spaceman gonna come and save you.
and you know... that when a tree falls, it dissolves back into the dirt, so when you walk let it flow on this long and winding road... you’re just traveling through space and time.
we’re just space dust, moon beams, electricity and soul, we are hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen and bone. we’re just space dust from the big bang, splattered across the universe.

______________________________________________
Bass: Ron Hall
Drums, Acoustic Guitar and Vocals: Frank Orrall
Electric Guitar, Lap Steel, Roland Space Echo: Ted Cho
Fender Rhodes, Mellotron: Dave Max Crawford
Electric Guitar: Dag Juhlin
Violins: Susan Mary Voelz & Inger Petersen Carle
Violin and Viola: Andra Kulans
Omnichord: Martin Stebbing
Chanteuse: Abra Moore
Backing Vocals: Charlette Wortham, Kornell Hargrove

"Prose on Recording"

Moon down, no sign of sun.
Just the deep black / blue night and the studio light.
All the phones have stopped ringing. The last of down town is home bound
and you can feel the whole world seem to settle down.
It's the best time to record.

Martin threads the tape machine, Ted plugs in the echoplex.
Nobody knows where the night will go.
There's a riff here, and a drum pattern there.
Words always seem the last to stick.
Reams of paper with lyrics from home just seem to get
burned as kindling in the furnace... a few phoenix.

You start with a pretty good idea,
but once you're deep inside the night it seems to disappear...
maybe having served it's purpose.
You follow a road and you find your self somewhere you hadn't planned.
It's a nice surprize.

The spirit of all those nights listening to music
with your best friends flows over you.
The dawn coming on,
the trees outside the window in the winter wind.
The drunken tears on the record sides
as the song strikes a chord in our hearts.
Singing out loud to each other to drive the point home.
("Nobody's goin' home tonight, yer sleeping on the couch").

Daytime in the studio is a time to get things done,
night's the time you let it happen.
Bring a bedroll and a tooth brush...
(a case of wine will never feel neglected).

It's like fishing. It's great to catch a fish,
but you have to enjoy the waiting with your line in the water too.

I like no time clock in the studio.
Sometimes the most constructive thing you can do is
just sit at the piano with your band mate at 3 a.m.
and play "Wild horses" (and marvel at the tender beauty of it).
You're not working on recording now...
(or trying to 'write songs' or anything as boring as that).
You're just reminding yourselves why you love songs.
When you remember that...
that's when the new ones come.

(F.Q.O.)   Edit Text

 
ALL_COVER_Spread.jpg
Poi Dog Pondering 7 song mini album
"Audio Love Letter"

Lyrics
 
Steve Marriott
1947 - 19991
(Written by Frank Orrall,
1 minute and 45 seconds of pure love for a major Brother!)

Lyrics:
When I finally found you, you were already dead
When I finally heard you, this is what you said...,
(instrumental break)
Steve Marriott! Burning the house down
 
 P.S. - the reference to 'burning the house down' has nothing to do with the actual fire he died in,
It has everything to do with the personal fire in his heart & how passionately he took the stage - total respect!
I had one person email saying that this song was disrespectful because it mentions fire, and that it was insensitive,
but I say Bull Shit, and Steve would too - This song is about the fire of soul,
Steve knows what I'm talking about here, and I have a pretty damn good idea he is digging this track right now!
(the dead have only love left to give the living!)

I never really discovered Steve Marriott 'till he was already dead,
Though I loved "Itchycoo Park" as a kid listening to the radio,
it was much later when I actually deeply listened to the Small Faces,
that I fell in love with them(and with Steve's voice and spark).
The basics for this were recorded by Ted Cho and me at Clava during the "7" demo sessions.
Ted set the mics and got a nice booming sound on the drums late one night,
I switched from drums, to Bass & guitar... searching, following Steve's ghost...
the lyrics just came in the midnight, and so now it's done.
Martin Stebbing and I love Steve and the Small Faces.
They where a great inspiration to us during the 7 sessions
because of the raw soul and 'heart on the sleeve' earnesty of every thing they did.
Faces Bassist Ronnie Lane rests solidly in our hearts from the Austin days
where he lived and performed quite a bit with PDP's Susan Voelz and Max Crawford before he died.

Steve died in a house fire at his home in 91.
This song is for him...   Total Respect!

F.Q.Orrall

Sweet Thing
 
I still remember the first time I heard Van Morrison'salbum; Astral Weeks, that shit kept me up all night....
and "Sweet thing"?   ...a song of total beauty.  The Waterboys were true to the original,
we decided to give it a bit of a Glam up treatment.
 
 
Jeremy Brett
1933 to 1995
(Written by Frank Orrall, and recorded as a pure gesture of love & respect for the late great
fantastic Actor... a true Bon Vivant and fine proper Dandy 'Twinkler' too!
Jeremy's portrayal of Sherlock Holmes (in the British Granada television series) is with out peer - hands down the best ever).

Lyrics:
I'm in love with Jeremy Brett
he was the single greatest sherlock holmes yet
in a series on the bbc
I used to watch him here on a & e
hair slicked back and impecably dressed
his only prop could be a single cigarette
he was an actor in the old regaurd
who took the stage intent to fully become his part
he was a sort of dandy in the classic tradition,
a bon vivant filled with bouts of depression
sundown sunday, kensington high street
in a cabretta with a floral scarf
london's yours, man you got macbeth tonight
 a scull in your hands in the fire light
tobacco and champagne and you're feelin alright!
a cab across town and a kiss goodnight
he played a holmes that was deep and dark with faults -
richly complex & brilliantly detailed
a "Damaged penguin" with genious intuition
an animated spider with singular vision
who's only need was a case to consume him
to stave his addiction to a certain solution
David Burke and Edward Hardwicke,
played it perfect as his friend and companion
a kind hearted, affable watson
everyready witha loyalhand in
any case that holmes would command him
I always felt holmes couldn't do with out him
brett's wife died back '85
all the grief triggered manic depression
could see it in his face - that he was heavily grieving
(his heart grew thin and finally stopped beating)
jeremy brett
I never knew you
OH! Darling!
I dedicate this song to you!
 
F.Q.Orrall

Uncertain Smile
 
By Matt Johnson
In 1983 Matt Johnson dropped The The's first record; Soul Mining with it's beautiful & clear poetry of souls
in self examining rumination on isolation & existence...
 
 
Young & Wilde

Lyrics Written by Frank Orrall:
 
You were young and wild...
had a chip on your shoulder,
I was cocky and awkward
in my young man's blues,
and you came to me and just
shhhhused my lips...
We ran free like the tigers
and the birds and the bees,
all I would have to do is think of you,
and you would just come to me,
but I'm lost tonight on the bedroom floor,
awww you don't come 'round to me in the night time anymore.
There was a time when you came to me,
in the deep end of the night.
There was a time when you needed me...
held me in the moon light.
But, now you just talk to me
like you'rereasoning with a child in the daylight.
Please, come home to me.

Music by F.Q.Orrall & Paul Mertens

Win
 
By David Bowie
From his Philly Soul era, near and dear to my heart
 
Starlight

Written by Frank Orrall:

Starlight...Starlight...
shining like a wheel... turning in the night

Sleeping...Dreaming...
bathing in the womb's, liquid white light

Falling...Laughing...
Drowning in the deep, deep end of night

Falling...Laughing...
Drowning in the deep,  dark end of night

Shining...Starlight...
bathing in the womb's, liquid white light
...Starlight...

F.Q.Orrall

We continue to follow our wonder minds eye,
Our Sword is Sharp and Our Heart is Loud. Edit Text

 
 
 
Frank Orrall : Never trade these daysEdit Text

cover-FQO-portrait.jpg Edit Picture

1 - CALL OUT TO ME

the afternoon is hours and the night is endlessly,

the trade winds are blowing from the lee ward to the east;

call out to me, let me hear you sing.

On the slope of mauna loa, the lavas flowing to the sea,

like the rain in hamakua... i'm reaching up into your leaves, Reach out to me...let me hear you sing.    

your salt tastes sweet, i'm crawling in you like a bee, i'm crawling in you baby like a bee (wrapped up in a bed sheet)

Yeah - i love to hear you come, wrapped up in a bed sheet.

2 - THREE SUMMER STORIES

My first real surf board was a lightning bolt

I was so stoked, I practically slept with that thing

Some nights before we went out surfing…

man……I could barely sleep

Awww baby check this wave out!

I got so barreled and still made it out

I got my style down just like Lopez

On our way home lets stop for an Icee

We used to trick out these old stingrays

Take the seat off and the fenders off

Strip the bike down of everything that it didn’t need

Bend the handlebars out wide

Make it look like a – make it look like a flat track

I had this old orange BSA motorcycle t-shirt

that my brother gave me…I used to wear it in the rain

We’d make motocross races in the park

Set up a ramp – see how many trash cans we could jump, I thought I was Steve

Paint it black with a can ofhouse paint

get some forks and stretch the extension

oh, o – o – o on any Sunday

evil Kanieval’s gonna jump the grand canyon!

In my punk rock mod days

I used to drive a vespa motor scooter

I had this beautiful 150 vespa sprint

With a full wind screen and a cop seat

Bought it out on the windward side,

Drove it home- Never forget it,

I painted it maroon and cream

Decked it out with a Hawaiian flagAnd a bunch of mirrors

We had a little scooter club

It was total quadrophenia

We used to riding down, go out dancing to ska

Down in Waikiki

We were cool and the gang until marky crashed and mikey died

Aw let’s drive around the island

And maybe catch aflick at waialae drive-in

We’ll make the scene you know the girls like riding

I like to dive in the thunder and lightning

3 - LIFE IS HARD

life is hard and it's complicated; I medicate myself

going gets tough and I can't relate; I medicate myself

psychedelic sunday, peyote monday, extacy tuesday, collieweed on wedesday

speed on thursday, alchohol friday, mesculin saturday, and again on sunday ...

life is hard and it's complicated; we medicate ourselves

going gets tough and we can't relate; we medicate ourselves

zolof sunnday, xanex monday, Lexapro tuesday, Wellbutrin wednesday

Paxil on thursday, Valium on friday, Celexa on saturday, Elavil on sunday

However did it come to this?!?! that I must work all day instead of hunt and fish

I want my bow and arrow back.... I wanna kill my own food and farm my land

Don't wanna live vicariously, don't wanna stare into that t.v. screen...

Don't want what they're selling me, don't wanna be their little worker bee.

We're so far from where we've come... got us praying all day until the kingdom come

this was once a garden of eden, now everybody's toiling and eating lithium.

I got my rent check, my health check, gas bill,  electric bill, my cell phone bill,  home phone bill , water bill and internet bill......

I wanna build a life with my own hands, not one that's laid out for me like a shelf full of cans.

4 - GODLESS CHURCH

while i was out walking in the godless church

of the great outdoors on the space ship earth

the mountains glaciers where dripping into cool clean droplets

of water flowing back gently back into the dirt

I followed the stream down through the alpine line

past the tundra where the eagles fly,

down into valleys shaded with tall trees

above moist beds thick with fallen leaves

I came upon a pond with deer head bent drinking

ears turned hard back - hard back listening

a whole forest knowing of my approaching

coming down off the mountain I felt that it could take me

and I would not ultimately mind

not as I would if in a hospital bed

while being fed vicaden and morphine through a drip

I'd rather have my bones picked clean by animal teeth

here in the godless church

the original thought rings on and on

here in the godless church

the original original truth echos on and on

every lesson here in the godless church

of the great outdoors on the space ship earth

for here in nature - reason has no question

is - is just is

here in the godless church

the original thought rings on and on

here in the godless church

the original original truth echos on and on

(every lesson here in the godless church

the last sactuary of the sacred)

5 - I'M NOT GONNA WANNA LEAVE WHEN IT'S TIME TO GO

6 - MY PAST IS A MYSTERY & MY FUTURE IS UN-WRITTEN

7 - NEVER TRADE THESE DAYS

slicked down angel's street

of snow and brown branches

tree limbs ladenedwith loves abundant

and a world's redundant

ever flowing lotion of

memories with out solvent

like an opaque ocean

of so many life times lived in one skin

a blend of happenstance

decisions and actions

sacred geometry in a tree leaf

a conch shell in a cornucopia

a possum paw and the hand of man

in a muscle and a labia

this rhythm is longer than all our lives

and this moment burns

but really means nothing

in the long run

I let it take me

like a river runs into the sea

like color through a maple angel leaf

the pain of my aging

goes with out saying

that I would miss all this

and in fact don't understand it

but love to see how

it evolves and rolls

and how my life seems to unfold

ever changing - re-arranging

weaving and wandering

fucking up and squandering

drunken and pondering

knowing only of my life's longing

to live it all - love it all

before my life's fall

from my will to live at all

into the winter of my reenactment

of every moment I everheld onto

every joy that ever got me through

the onslaught of my involvement

with this world and it's ways…no...

I would never trade thesedays x3

birds wing knifing night

she softly closing up behind it

moon spreading milk on black water

curtains drawn over muffled lover

tree's leaves casting blankets of shadows on streets

on starlight cream and molasses streets

clocks ticking diligence goes unnoticed

persistent little fucker

( yeah - glad to not have its job )

the smell of rain in my memory

a thunder clap in the palm of my hand

the earth is oozing dew from deep inside

 fire flies are turning in the summer sky

it's a night like this

where secrets get revealed

someone's gonna lose their piece of mind tonight

aint it just like gravity

to hold you close to her?

holding on like a lover she gave birth to

wings like mercury

with a roof of stars we cant reach and hardly see

but imaginationis a wondrous thing

Icarus still got higher

than all the human beings

but mass knows to keep you close

all truth flows from the earth

Tucked in the folds

of the origami infinite lotus,

of life's time continuum,

Creation's little details,

more wondrous than the space shuttle,

quietly superimpose upon each other,

forming 3 dimensional layers of petals

unfolding onward - transparent in our hustling din.

we're living with the question

without an answer…

that's the first thing you gotta

get used to

“I don't have enough fire

to put out all that water”

…if it feels good do it,

if it doesn't... don't

Threadbare and high on life

leaving a transparent rubber tire track trail all across the american map

a summer moons reflection in a night blackened pool.

it all starts with love –

this is the beginning

“our obsession with angels

is our obsession with ourselves

every angel all of us,

inside our skin is wings,

divinity in a tree leaf,

and in every living thing…”

like silt in the bottom

of a bottle of wine,

every husk tells the story

of an entire lifetime

distilled in all our senses is the essence of our being,

yeah man - religion isn't supple enough

to bend like the limbs of trees

I just can't seem to hold it any more

there's just too many pieces,

and they're tumbling to the floor,

my is filled up with more threads

than I can follow

some much years,

so much joy and sorrow,

my mind's filled with thing's I can't keep

so much crop and some are going fallow

too much field and not enough plow for me to follow

when you get my age you start to prioritize

knowing you can't realize all the dreams

you got stored up inside

life used to seem so simple –

like we had so much time

now I'm watching a generation fall

we all gonna fall like dominoes man

pinned down crimson,

sea worn and forlorn

following the flow

of the ancient undertow

rolling ever onward –

now my time is waning

I felt that first hit today,

like I have lived more days

than I have left

time is moving faster

than the endless grand chasm that my childhood summers felt like

in the slow motion clock of my youth

(If seen the edge of the downward slope into middle age

and I don't want to relent to it

who could hold the bowl big enough

to hole all that life would spill?

who's mouth not over flow?

I been down so many roads...

did I lose my way ?

I been down so many roads...

did I lose my way? ?

I guess I followed my heart...

did it lead me astray?

when I look back upon my life

so many lifetimes it seems to me,

how many lives can one man lead?

( … feels like I 'm doing battle with something the consistency of a ghost )

8 - LITTLE BLOSSOMS FALLING DOWN

I turn on the t.v.

turn it off... put on the radio

everyone's talking about

all of the troubles in the world

the commercials remind me

who's funding the drama

turn it off, turn on the stereo

we do what we can

we do what we must

but I need to remember

when I go walking

in the valley of the ko'olaus

the smell of the ginger

and the guava on the ground

and when I go swimming

in the surf at makapuu

I let it take me

and then I remember

and then I remember

all the beauty in this world

and then I remember

and then I remember

and when I am dinning

with my friends in the purple night

I love all the farmers

and ones who make the wine

I love all the laughter

I love all the stars

up in the sky

it's thenI remember

all the beauty in this world

when I listen to music

and the song that makes you cry

(I love all the passion)

page after page

of a favorite book

I am in wonder

It helps me remember

all the beauty in this world

with a child's eye

I take it in

little blossums falling down

and the tide of time

comes rushing in

while we linger ...on

I think of the painters

I think of the poets

I think of all the folks I've know

I think of the lovers

I think of the lovers

9 - YOU'RE LIKE A WHISPERWILL

You're like a whisperwill when you walk

(awwwww comin' on down ther street)

You're like a bird that sings in the dark

(... when I'm tryin' to get some sleep!)

You're like a bell that rings in my heart

(... when peace of my is hard enough to keep)

You're like a whisperwill when you walk

Take a moment slow down, and come over here,

I love it when you're sleepy... and you got that bird's nest hair

(awwwwww.... saunter on darling)

EVERYBODY'S GOT A STAR

The Turning :

ahhh

the sunshine

the sea

the mountains

the trees

the turning

autumn leaves

________________________

When I Wake in the Morning:

when i wake

in the morning

all of the stars

have fallen down

when i wake

in the morning

all of the birds

have gathered round

____the sun

she is rising

gonna melt the snow

down into the ground

the sun, she is rising

gonna melt the snow

upon the ground

____when I walk

in the evening

the moon is raising

the waterline

________________________

Burnin' Higher:

I love the way you wear

those flowers in your hair

I love the way you dance

like you don't even care

I love the your summer legs

wrapped around my waist

I love the way you smell

I love the way you taste

___you gotta keep on burning higher

keep reaching for the star up in your sky

________________________

Everybody's Got A Star:

hahahaha!

awwwww, You're a muther F#@king Star man!

oh, yeah, I can't believe the star that you are,

don't believe that @#&kin shit you see on the TV man, Nah,

You're a muther @#&king Star man!

Yeah… that's who you are..

(Don't you know that you're a star?

-Don't you know just who you are?!)

hahahaha! oh my god,

I can't believe that you don't know the star that you are,

don't believe that muther @#&kin' shit you see on the TV,

Don't you know they're just in it for @#&kin' the Money man!?!?

You're perfect!

(@#&K those muther F@#kers)

You're a muther F#&king Star man,

don't you ever for get it.

________________________

Electron Flux:

Hey now Sisters…

you gotta come with your heart full on

Hey now Brothers…

you gotta come with your power strong

Hey now Sisters…

you gotta come with your power strong

Hey now Brothers…

you gotta come with your heart full on

________________________

IN COMES THE NIGHT:

in comes the night,

she’s streaming through your window,

searching with her light for the

head upon your pillow.

she is only waiting

for you to let her into your mellow head.

...less black than white,

more milky grey and fibrous;

the mind must be a demon thing to

make you search the past.

the skull is an old thing,

dug up in the dirt in the night.

___and it’s moonlight who knows you when you’re lonely.

yeah, it’s moonlight who knows just where to find me.

___up drunk smooth and tight,

in your noble degradation.

dreaming through a window,

sifting through aberrations.

romancing the drunken poet

who sparks your imagination in the night.

________________________

ALL AROUND (8fatfat8 Remix)

I see water flowing under -

my feet walking on the ground

I see clouds passing over

and the wind rushing all around

in all the deepest oceans

and on the 7 seas

on all those tallest mountains

and in the birds and leaves

in all those silent faces

and in those searching hearts

on all those streaming highways

and in those lonely bars

___under the sun beating upon me

under the stars turning in the sky

mountain high in the cherry evening

up late late with the record on

Downtown with the steal and concrete

on the streets with that hissing sound

________________________

All Saints Ascension:

lazy sunday

amazing afternoon

you came with the rain

sucking on your silver spoon

I need you

I don't want you

and you never ask me why

you wonder when I'm honest

and you know how hard I try

you come around here wondering

like you don't know what you want

I take what I want from you

give you everything I got

my past is a mystery

and my futures unwritten

i wanna get high

i wanna get deep inside

all saints ascension !!!

!!!!feelin freee

(You're gonna get you money's worth)

steal a moment

(I'm gonna catch your camera eye)

feelin freee!!!!

I'm gonna get high

(i wanna get deep inside)

all saint's ascension!

steal a moment

steal a moment

steal a moment

steal a moment away with me

northern light angel

bespeckled freckle breasted,

I'm cocky when I'm walkin

but shaky when I'm tested

I paint my self in silver

with a card board crown

I'm lonely when I'm only

but constant in a crowd

I'm dynamite and satin

a drunkard and a coward

I'm a lily in a bed sheet

a child who's lost the hour

I missed the train while waiting

unwilling where I stand

I'd put my foot down only

if I was certain where it' land

I'm quick to click an instant

but slow to draw the straw

I'll talk about the long line

but afraid to make a fall

___you people with children are so brave!

________________________

Dream Onward Angel :

Dream onward Angel

you're gonna make it through

(Dream onward Angel

you're gonna make it through)

Beautiful soul

forging forward

(Dream onward Angel

Dream onward Angel)

Digging in the deep end

the deep end of the night,

behind the blue, behind the blue

(a shovels full of stars)

follow the whispers inside your heart,

(reach into the water, reach into the water )

Digging in the deep end

the deep end of the night,

behind the blue, behind the blue

open up the windows and let the night in...

reach into the water, reach into the water

Let the dawn tumble on....

Let the dawn tumble on....

follow the whispers inside your heart,

(reach into the water, reach into the water )

music, is the blood in my heart

hope, is the light in my lungs

never give up… you owe me this much

Let the dawn tumble on....

Let the dawn tumble on....

We wander on, as long as we want to

never give up… you owe me this much

dream onward angel

never give up… you owe me this much

you come through fire

and you find the sun

there is so much beauty

it can never be undone

(dream onward angel)

________________________

STEPPER'S DELIGHT

There are some people, they’re around yes they’re everywhere

When they come near they really give you quite a scare

They won’t loosen their reins they try to contain fresh vision new ways but I

Gotta be strong I gotta go on step out the blind open my mind and let my light shine

So that I can define , define myself

I try to open some minds but they’re locked tight in a jar

They’re buried underground way down real far

Narrow view robotic ways, never tomorrow but it’s always yesterday

But to really be free you have to concede that I must be me

And I wanna try a new race, a different pace in a new place just to get a taste

Of being myself, just being myself

Don’t fix don’t shape don’t mold me just watch my life and you will see

Happiness triumphs some falls but they’re all mine best of all

Now you know me now you don’t maybe I will maybe I won’t

Sometimes I do sometimes I don’t my choice it’s all mine

I’m just being myself, just being myself

Have you seen me around? am I lost there in the crowd?

Everybody around me talking loud, saying nothing and doing the same

But I refuse to play in these games I don’t want a one track mind

Sometimes I wanna play outside the lines so that I can just find

Just find myself, I wanna find myself

What’s up with the people why they stop just to look and stare

They’re surely shocked by your walk your clothes your hair

The wrong color, wrong fit wrong thing to wear

Next time you know that they’ll dare to say

Too fat too short too thin tattoos tongue pierced wrong skin

With them you just can’t win so, so just be yourself

________________________

LET LOVE

When every string un-ravels

and there's nothing left to hold

what do you scream?

Love won't let you go

& Love won't close the door

so just Let Love

Open up, feel the pain,

Then you'll feel the rain

of Love.

Lifted, floating, flying, soaring

Deeper emotion, energy,

Flowing with Love

________________________

IF I WERE MUSIC

If I were music I'd be that simple song

To get you through each day

I'd inspire you, to aim higher you'd

Grow stronger each time I play

If I were music I'd send the sun as you warmth and your guiding light

If I were music I'd be the moon to, lead you safely through the night

If I were music I'd paint the sky with the wonders of your love

If I were music I'd d be the flight in the wings of a lonesome dove

If I were music

I'd fill you with song

With resounding words

That guide you along your way.

I'd let the rhythm move you

Down to your bones,

And I would bring some joy to life, yeah

With music, you're never alone.

If I were music.

If I were Music,

I would tell all the people...

"Follow your Heart" "Follow your Heart" "Follow your Heart"

If I were music I’d be a red ribbon

curling around your bones,

weaving heat and desire

’til you become that ring of fire.

I’d burn your thoughts from your rigid skull

with the silken sound of unusual love that is music.

The sound of love is music.

- - -

If I was music I would flash like lightning

I would drift on down just as softly as snow

If I was music I would meet you at midnight

The lonely midnight, and I would save your soul

I'd help you lose yourself

Until you found yourself

….

Because we are all music

Because we are all mu, all mu, all mu, all mu, all music

We are all music

We are all music

We are all music

- -

If I were music

I would cage your hate, and jail your fears

that someday, you would be free

If I were music, music, I’d give sight to the blind, being led by the blind

and cleanse your brainwashed mind with truth and clarity

If I were music, I would inspire lift higher, and increase the desire,

for all to reach that greatness that could be………….. If I were music

I’d keep four on the floor ’til you couldn’t take it no more,

then drop that melody line and just blow your mind…….with music

________________________

Yo, undress your mind while I caress your ear

Worlds fall away while another one appears

Taking my sweet time, I'm never in a rush

Whisper in your ear, guaranteed to make you blush

Close enough to touch, feel your breath on my face

And I'mma fondle every curve with the vibe and the bass

And like an architect, baby doll I got plans

I'm not All-State but you're in really good hands

On the backside is the beat

You can take a ride on the rhythm but you gotta take it deep.

Music for the masses like Depeche Mode

Time hangs in the air when you cross the threshold

Don't follow trends, not aware of fashion

Bite my lower lip and release all the passion

I had fun messin' up your hair

Tomorrow, your body reminds you I was there

If I were music I’d be a red ribbon

untie you from your bones.

Free your breath…in a gasp

so we can live as overtones.

Because we are all music

Because we are all music

Because we are all music music music music

All music

We are all music

We are all music

We are all music

“REMNANTS OF SUMMER” ALBUM LYRICS:

__________________________

THREE SUMMER STORIES (Lyrics by Frank Orrall)

My first real surf board was a lightning bolt

I was so stoked, I practically slept with that thing

Some nights before we went out surfing…

man……I could barely sleep

Before the would rise, we’d already be on our way to the beach

Awww baby check this wave out!

I got so barreled and still made it out

I got my style down just like Lopez

On our way home lets stop for an Icee

We used to trick out these old stingrays

Take the seat off and the fenders off

Strip the bike down of everything that it didn’t need

Make it look like a – make it look like a flat track

Bend the handlebars out wide

I had this old orange BSA motorcycle t-shirt

that my brother gave me…I used to wear it in the rain

We’d make motocross races in the park

Set up a ramp – see how many trash cans we could jump, I thought I was Steve

Paint it black with a can of spray paint

get some forks and stretch the extension

oh, o – o – o on any Sunday

Evel Knievel’s gonna jump the grand canyon!

In my punk rock mod days

I used to drive a vespa motor scooter

I had this beautiful 150 vespa sprint

With a full wind screen and a cop seat

Bought it out on the windward side,

Drove it home - Never forget it,

I painted it maroon and cream

Decked it out with a Hawaiian flag And a bunch of mirrors

We had a little scooter club….

y’know…It was total “Quadrophenia”

We used to go riding down, go out dancing to ska

Down in Waikiki

We were cool and the gang until marky crashed and mikey died

Aw let’s drive around the island

And maybe catch a flick at Wai’alae drive-in

We’ll make the scene you know the girls like riding

I like to dive in the thunder and lightning

GODLESS CHURCH (Lyrics by Frank Orrall)

while I was out walking in the godless church

of the great outdoors on the space ship earth

the mountains glaciers where dripping into cool clean droplets

of water flowing back back into dirt

I followed the stream down through the alpine line

past the tundra where the eagles fly,

down into valleys shaded with tall trees

above moist beds thick with fallen leaves

I came upon a pond with deer head bent drinking

ears turned hard back - hard back listening

a whole forest knowing of my approaching

coming down off the mountain I felt that it could take me

and I would not ultimately mind

not as I would if in a hospital bed

while being fed Vicaden and morphine through a drip

I'd rather have my bones picked clean by animal teeth

here in the godless church

the original thought rings on and on

here in the godless church

the original original truth echoes on and on

every lesson here in the godless church

of the great outdoors on the space ship earth

for here in nature - reason has no question

is - is just is

here in the godless church

the original thought rings on and on

here in the godless church

the original original truth echoes on and on

_____________

ALL AROUND THE WORLD (Lyrics by Frank Orrall)

blood from the sky

food for the earth

bare-feet on wet earth

those where respectable days

arms stretched out

I'm waiting for the sun

I got my back

against the grass

and the sun is rising 24 hours a day

(all around the world)

and the astronauts are drifting out in space

(all around the world)

and the sun is rising 24 hours a day

(all around the world)

and the satellites are floating out in space

(24 hours a day)

continents are drifting

lava rising from the sea

Chile and Peru are growing

higher everyday

workers in the factories

bankers on the streets

I'm gathering sand dollars

and setting them free

there are grave plots

all over green hill sides

by the high ways

they took to work every day

__________________________

SWEETNESS (Lyrics by Carla Prather, Susan Voelz & Frank Orrall)

The light on her

was beautiful

Let it shine

The light on her

was beautiful

Let it pick you up

Let it pick you up now

Sweetness in answer to your meekness

Such a sweet sweet melody

When you're here with me

Knowing when

I need you in

My life my mind when I am stressed

My heart is filled with your sweetness

Home again

Is the feeling in

My soul my peace you give me rest

Inside you I find Happiness

(My heart is healed through your sweetness)

He’s not evil; he’s just bad

But once the two of you were like the northern lights

Do you long to be?

Do you long to return

to your sweetness?

to your sweetness

_______________

SONO QUI (Lyrics by Susan Voelz)

So you think you’re in love

With the girl on the dance floor?

Well, here I am..just as I am

Zipped up coat, hands in my pockets

3 AM, red boots and my glasses

So you want that girl

The one on the dance?

Well here I am… just as I am

I’m Incredibly smart..I could be a genius

You want that girl?

Kiss me I love you let’s dance.

When the bass plays up high

and the drums play just right (or ‘and the drums play down low’)

Here I am…just like that

Here I am…all that I am

roses are red violets are blue

come here I want to talk with you

roses are red violets are blue

come here I want to go home with you

roses are red violets are blue

come here I’m gonna make love with you

roses are red violets are blue

come here I’m gonna spend my life with you

Here I am…just like that

Here I am…all that I am, all that I am

___________________________________

“KEEP ON LOVING EACH OTHER” / “DO IT YOUR OWN WAY” NEW PDP ALBUM 2023

LYRICS:

DO IT YOUR OWN WAY

I'm missing a feeling .... in my heart

I think it's time for a brand new start

a brand new start!

I'm not afraid

to start over &

I am no stranger to manual labor

I feel all right

Well alright...

right on

Take your time

Do it your way

Stand up

Speak your mind

Follow your heart

Try to be kind.

Be yourself

it’s ok

there’s only one like you

in this whole world

take your time

find your place

Be true to your heart  

Do it your own way

I got a feeling .... in my heart

I think it's time for a brand new start

a brand new start!

in my heart, like I can spark

a brand new start…

yeah, I feel all right

FREE AND EASY

I love you more than you’ll ever know

It takes Time to let it show

and if you wanna get next to me,

you gotta be ready and willing…

To be Free & Easy with me

I don’t do well under pressure

Jealousy’s go no place with me

If you love me, then let me be me,

don’t try to change or rearrange me.

I’ve got this far on my own account,

I don’t need you to turn me out,

I just want you to be your self,

I’m not looking for someone else…

To be Free & Easy with me

So be Free & Easy with me

SWEET TASTE IN MY MOUTH

I heard the crickets clicking in the

distance, as I watched the moon rise high

I was thinking about you baby

I was contemplating life's atrocities

you put a sweet taste in my mouth

I don’t know what I’d do with out

you baby

I was un-tethered in the storm

you gave me a sense of home

now I wanna be there for you baby

I’ve been waiting so long

to feel a sense of home

and now that you’ve come along

I want you in my arms,

tout de suite

When the world get’s heavy on

your shoulder

When ever you’re down inside

I’ll be waiting for you

Now I wanna leave a little light on

for you, for when you come home

I wanna set the table for ya baby

J'ai attendu si longtemps

Pour trouver un refuge

Maintenant que je t'ai trouvé

Je te veux dans mes bras tout suite

I’ve been waiting so long

to feel a sense of home

and now that you’ve come along

I want you in my arms,

tout de suite

TENDER LITTLE HEART

Let me in your tender little heart

She don’t wanna talk about it,

how love broke her heart.

Now’s she’s tryin’ ti live with out it…

Ooh baby, let me in, your tender little heart

BESPECKLED ANGEL

Bespeckled Angel,

star map made of freckles

hair tousled and tumbled…

wrapped up in a bedsheet

Everybody needs someone

they can depend on

When Times are tuff,

and you need a friend

Everybody needs someone

they can come home to

everybody needs a little love

to get um through

I Got a feeling, like sunday morning

I'm high on the mountain

tryin’na shake off the blues today

Everybody needs a someone they can depend on

When Times get tuff, and you need a friend

Everybody needs someone they can come home to

everybody needs a little love

to get um through

You know it don’t come easy

You gotta follow your heart

Down deep inside…

You know what you want

now you know you gotta Bleed, to get what you came for

yeah you know you gotta Dream, to get what you want

Yeah you know you gotta Bleed, to get what you came for

yeah you know you gotta Dream, to get what you want

You might think that you know it!

You might think you got it all worked out

Things change in a moment

you might find that you need a friend

Everybody needs a someone they can depend on

When Times get tuff, and you need a friend

Everybody needs someone they can come home to

everybody needs a little love

to get um through

THE ROME SONG

The Birds of Rome

are finding their way home

in the dusk light

And out on the west coast

You’re just waking up

and walking into the sunlight

And your eyes

your eyes are in me now

I’m Patient….

Patient as the Rain

I can take it

I can take the pain

But, I’m Lonely

in this exquisite ache

And your eyes

your eyes are in me now

What Am I gonna do?

Your milk is in my mouth, now

and I want you

I need you, and I want you

Wanna smell and taste and

feel you on me, baby

What the heart wants, the heart wants

You can’t make it change it’s mind

I just wanna love you

Your map is in my soul now

your seed sewn deep inside,

and your eyes…

your eyes

your eyes are in me now

LICKED ALL THE SUGAR

I Licked all the sugar

I Drank all the wine

I staggered home in the cool morning light

with a hand full of piece of mind

I stood High on the Mountain

I dove deep in the sea

I wandered round in the electric dawn in the

Morning in New Orleans

MEET ME IN THE FOREST

Meet me in the forest

take off all your clothes

let me lie with you awhile

When the sun comes

asunder

and the starlight falls

and your hair comes tumbling down

I wanna be there with you

When your Thunder Reigns

Rain all over me

I feel like a lone wolf

on the edge of town

tempting danger

incase you might come around

WAKE IT NOW

You're gonna have to wake it now,

Your heart fell asleep

When the night time falls down

and i'm on my knees

and the clouds swirling around me to

interveen

she comes to me in silence

never calls my name

I never ask her what she came for

no need to explain

my past a mystery

my future's unwritten

gonna play that pony

gonna lay my chips down on the table

The future flys like an eagle in the

distance

and the moment burns like a match in an

instant

I'm so supple now, I've got velveteen skin,

you can tell I've got the blues by the

shape I'm in,

you're gonna have to wake it now

Somewhere along the way

under the bourdon of dreams

you got weighed down by the dailies

and let let your heart fall asleep,

You're gonna have to wake it now

The path unfolds unfolds before you

in an instant

and the truth speaks clearly

if you're listening

you got your life before you

your past behind

the future's got you worried now

I know you're terrified

but, you're gonna have to take it now…

it'll be alright! it'll be alright! i feel

it!

Yeah, you're gonna have to wake it now…

it's alright, it's alright, I can feel it...

Gonna have to wake it now

KEEP ON LOVING EACH OTHER

I was distracted, doing some casual research on a glass of wine, at the dining room table, when you reached over, and put your sweet palm on my shoulder,

We’ve gotta keep on loving each other

Spread love today,

We can end this hate,

Let’s defeat it.

It’s up you me & you