top of page

MEET THE MOTOR TOM

Hard Pack Records™, 2016

SUBWAY TRACKS

Let's start a revolution,

Once we take away their guns

Let's grow a pair of balls, boys

The only resolution

Is to kill off all the violent ones

And pin their hides to the walls (Yeah!)

Pin their hides to the walls

Look out for the bar-stool hugger

Yeah, look out for the bar-stool hugger

I think a lot about _____

And I think a lot about you

I'm supposed to write shit down

'Cause my therapist tells me to

I'm careful rounding corners

I don't bother anyone

If I don't get a message from the chick I like

I wonder what I've done

Look out for the bar-stool hugger

Yeah, look out for the train track chugger

Remember when you left me

Stranded on the subway tracks, tracks, tracks, tracks

Yeah I think I caught a fever

Standing on the subway tracks, tracks, tracks, tracks

She call him Romeo

He hurts her arm in bed

He has to ask permission

To remind her what she said

There's nothing to make up

Nothing worth erasing

Just another faceless evening

Gets me pacing, pacing, pacing

Look out for the bar-stool hugger

Yeah, look out for the train track chugger

Remember when you left me

Stranded on the subway tracks, tracks, tracks, tracks

Yeah I think I caught a fever

Standing on the subway tracks, tracks, tracks, tracks

The first time that you kiss me,

Kiss me on the subway tracks, tracks, tracks, tracks

Yeah I think I caught a fever

Standing on the subway tracks, tracks, tracks, tracks

Look out... look out... look out!

LATE

I ate my dinner

I cleaned my plate

I finished everything but I

Started too late

Uh huh - I started too late

I made the movie

Oh, what a twist!

I bought you all kind of crap but

You still got pissed

That I showed up late

 

Nothin' decent to wear in my closet, and you know that

It's a faux pas for me to look good when you look great

I'll never lie to you

It sounds dumb but it's true

And it's why I was late

If we were children

I'd build a fort

And I'd protect you from the teacher

And the book report

Afraid I'd come short... again

I kicked his ass (Yeah!)

His ass got kicked

I rescued you from getting raped but

You still got ticked and 

Said that I had come up short

Too many flowers and not enough roses on your birthday

The Edible Arrangements were my last resort

You used to say I was great

But now I'm little more than late

And a little bit short

WINTER LOVE

I was following the path

I was following the path on down 

To where the path began to turn

I was swallowing my pride

Reconsidering every habit down

To how to my cells divide

For her

Thought it was over before it got started

Thought it was over

Thought it was over before it got started

My winter love

I was plotting my attack

Letting loose all of the scary crap 

That held my confidence back

For so long

I was peeling back the rind

recapitulating an old new self

Out of a self confined

For so long

Thought it was over before it got started

Thought it was over

Thought it was over before it got started

My winter love

The only difference that I've made

Is that I'm on the straight and narrow

I was following the path

Then I caught up with my love

And my self

Right there where the path began

And it was good!

Thought it was over before it got started

Thought it was over

Thought it was over before it got started

My winter love

SUPER SEXY SPACE STATION

Hard Pack Records™, 2018

LEFT OUT

I'm sorry, I'm sorry I lied but I had to
I'm sorry that my silence manifests as an emotional crutch

I'm sorry, but "sorry" belies what I have to do to keep you safe
I'm sorry that I'm sorry and I'm sorry I say "sorry" so goddamn much

Uh-oh uh-oh lord-a-mercy gotta let me in
Uh-oh uh-oh lord-a-mercy gotta let me in

'Cause I don't wanna be left out
I don't wanna get burned, I don't wanna get burned and I don't wanna be

Stupid or marginalized...
Though admittedly I'm naturally just dumb to always be wrong
I'm a daydreamer
Slippin' away to have a sun-beam daydream, or something lazy,
But lately, baby, lately I've been feelin' I've been dreamin' too long, too long, too long

Uh-oh uh-oh lord-a-mercy gotta let me in
Uh-oh uh-oh lord-a-mercy gotta let me in

'Cause I don't wanna be left out
I don't wanna be left out
I don't wanna be left out
Or kicked around, honey,
No I don't wanna get burned, I don't wanna get burned and I don't wanna be

So sorry, baby...

SEARCHING

I’ve been chasing you since second one
You’ve been running ever since you could run

I still feel guilty about leaving you
I still feel guilty about leaving you

I’ve said “I’m sorry” in so many songs
Given the impression that’s where “sorry” belongs

I still feel guilty about leaving you
I still feel guilty about leaving you

I’ve been searching, I’ve been searching,
I’ve been searching
For a manly way to say “I really fucked up yesterday.”
I’ve been searching, I’ve been searching,
I’ve been searching
For a manly way to say “I really fucked up yesterday,
And lately, everything’s my fault.”

Finding conundrums in the simplest things
Looking up solutions when the doorbell rings

I still feel guilty about leaving you
I still feel guilty about leaving you

I’ve been searching, I’ve been searching,
I’ve been searching
For a manly way to say “I really fucked up yesterday.”
I’ve been searching, I’ve been searching,
I’ve been searching
For a manly way to say “I really fucked up yesterday,
And lately, everything’s my fault.”

REACHING FOR A GUN

Every breath is different
All the air is gone
Every second that we spend breathing
Is another breath we’ve wasted time on
Staying is a form of surrender
Leaving is a form of defeat
Whitman and Sinatra,
Larry David’s mantra
And Woody Allen stalking the street

Reaching for a Gun
Reaching for a Gun
Reaching for a Gun

Took the 5 to Atlantic
To see what they say is a team
We ‘99 Believers have had about enough of those who
Wouldn’t know The Glove from The Dream

Hurried back to Manhattan
On that quintessential Manhattan line
And thought about the reasons it hasn’t been electric
In the Garden since Van Gundy resigned

Reaching for a Gun
Reaching for a Gun
Reaching for a Gun

Beauty in the eyes of the homeless
Silence as a source of alarm
A New Yorker’s sense of safety can hardly be distinguished
From a notion that even fear has its charm

Reaching for a Gun
Reaching for a Gun
Reaching for a Gun

REAL LIFE

Tell me that you wanna be loved
You’ll be loved, you’ll be loved, you’ll be loved

Show me how you need it to feel
It will feel how it feels to be loved

Summer 1978
A new love has arrived from LA

He meets her at the terminal gate
Right on time at TWA – TWA

So you say you wanna get a taste of
Real life
So you say you wanna get a taste of
Real life

Tell me that you wanna be loved
You’ll be loved, you’ll be loved by me

Show me how you need it to feel
It will feel how it feels to be free

Summer of 2010
A new love has arrived once again

A sudden unsolicited sound
Brings to light a new-found and mysterious emotional high

So you say you wanna get a taste of
Real life
So you say you wanna get a taste of
Real life

Tell me that you wanna be loved (aaahh ch-ch-ch)
Tell me that you wanna be loved (aaahh ch-ch-ch)
Tell me that you wanna be loved (aaahh ch-ch-ch)
Tell me that you wanna be loved

FUCKED UP WORLD

I can feel the party winding down
I can feel my heart hit the ground
Hey!

I can feel the pressure building up
I can see the bottom of that red, red cup

And that’s when she said
“We’ve been living in a fucked up world for a long time”
She said she’s not responsible for my happiness

Her little fucked up world is paralyzed
Her little fucked up heart is beating, beating
Her little fucked up world is paralyzed by the panic of connection

I can feel the party winding down
I can feel my heart hit the ground
Hey!

I can feel the pressure building up
I can see the bottom of that red, red cup

And that’s when she said
“We’ve been living in a fucked up world for a long time”
She said she’s not responsible for my happiness

Her little fucked up world is paralyzed
Her little fucked up heart is beating, beating
Her little fucked up world is paralyzed by the panic of connection

Her little fucked up world
His little fucked up mind
Their little fucked up hearts
This little fucked

Her little fucked up world is paralyzed
Her little fucked up heart is beating, beating
Her little fucked up world is paralyzed by the panic of connection

EYE ON YOU

 

Get another life if the life you have ain't workin' good right now
Get another job if the job you got is jobbin' you too hard right now
Get another boy if the boy you got ain't lookin' good right now
Get another life if the life you lead ain't leadin' you to him right now

I've got to keep an eye on you
It was decided once you had confided
That you keep an eye on me, too

Get another love if the love you got ain't lovin' you right now
Get another place if the place you got ain't lookin' too good to you right now
Get another life if the life you have ain't lookin' good to you right now
Get another face if the face you got ain't lookin' good to you right now

I've got to keep an eye on you
It was decided once you had confided
That you keep an eye on me, too

ELIZABETH BROWNING

Leave me here with the shadows
And your ear pressed against my door
Thine Eros is nigh, there’s no need to pry anymore
Leave me to my bonds
The love-thief ever-absconding
C’est notre vie

Leave me here with the monsters
In the silence of the dark
A sharp clasping knife, a life to a life and the lark
Won’t come back around
Darkness knows no bound
So I bid thee

Leave me alone again,
Elizabeth Browning
Leave me alone again,
Leave me alone again,
Elizabeth Browning,
Drop your tears in the waters where I’m drowning,
Elizabeth Browning

Death turns me to Leander,
So meet me at Sestos hight
Lip unto lip, Hero en-gripped through the night
Day-heat wilts the skin
I’ll quench thee from within
Ne’er to bid thee

Leave me alone again,
Elizabeth Browning
Leave me alone again,
Leave me alone again,
Elizabeth Browning,
Drop your tears in the waters where I’m drowning,
Elizabeth Browning

I'M JUST SCARED

I'm not bleeding half my life away
I'm not dippin' no sinners' heads backwards into the river

No baby's hair in the sink
Limited Resources, Inc.

I'm not bleeding half my life away
Over nothing

I'm just scared I'm gonna lose you

I'm not bleeding half my life away
I'm not dippin' no sinners' heads backwards into the river

Multiple hair-dos this week
And my outlook on progress is bleak


I'm not bleeding half my life away
Over nothing

I'm just scared I'm gonna lose you

BYE, BYE BROOKLYN

If I could fingerpaint where life has gone
I'd hand into my teacher somethin' someone else had drawn
And when I wake up
Don't wanna wake up to the sound of children at my feet

Oh, Lafayette, wherefore your boredom grows
Oh, Lafayetee, like you I slowly decompose

And when I wake up
I wanna wake up to the sound of a rhythm in the street

That's why I'm gonna
Say "bye, bye" to Brooklyn
Take the last seat on the train
And I'm never gonna come this way again

If I could figure out where my time has gone
Perhaps I'd see my happiness was with me all along
And then I'd wake up, yeah
I'd wake up to the sound of a rhythm in the street

That's why I'm gonna
Say "bye, bye" to Brooklyn
Take the last seat on the train
And I'm never gonna come this way again

STILL LIFE

Showering won't do me no good
In this hot, hot summer
'Cause I'm too depressed

They call me "phony"
Why?
Because they know me
Oh!

A decent friend would be a revolution for me

Is this the life I've been given?
Is this still life?

Every breath is different now,
Just don't expect me to explain it
'Cause it's mishegas

I think I'm stupid
Why?
Because I'm stupid
Oh!

A decent song would be a real improvement for me

Is this the life I've been given?
Is this still life?

AMERICAN KIDS

Maybe we were better off sticking with Camptown Races
Maybe we were better served rolling in Leaves of Grass
Maybe we were plenty bad firin' at fifteen paces

But all I know is that we're all

Slowly dyin'
American kids

Chasing after Seferoth, loitering at HMV
Taking more than we deserve, cheating of the geeks in class
Paying bread to catch 'em, tell me was just me you or was it the thing to do?


But all I know is that we're all

Slowly dyin'
American kids

Dreams of power, schemes and plans
Remind me of the better days

Slowly dyin'
American kids

NOT COMPLAINING, BUT...

Have a tendency to be self-defeating
It's getting hard to keep this heart from bleeding
The clearer my reflection the faster it grows dim
If I turned into a lighthouse the navalcade had better learn to swim

There's something hypocritical about loving New York
Sweetness on the plate but poison on the fork
As one nice thing arises two better things must fall
But it's alright, Ma! I'm only bleeding after all

I'm not complaining, but...

Nearly thirty days after the second tower fell
We had to walk to school trying to ignore the smell
And nearly thirty years I've spent now trying to deny
That I was born short and I'm gonna die shy, that's why

I'm not complaining, but...

LAVA LAND

Hard Pack Records™, 2020

BURN IT TO THE GROUND

 

Some say Panic

There’s no panic

Don’t say Panic

Never panic

I know panic

And I panic

When the other foot drops

 

However much we plan it

It’s a shitty little planet

 

1.21 gigawatts

Maybe in the future all the bullshit stops

But I won’t hold my breath

I’m quoting Macbeth

While considering death

 

Because I’m sure as sure he’ll obscure the viewer

But the Fuhrer can’t hide, hide, hide, hide, hide, so

Burn it to the ground,

Burn it to the ground,

Burn it to the ground with your friends inside

 

There’s no pretending

There’s an ending

To the rending

That’s impending

Just extending

The upending

Everything that makes us us

 

However hard we try it

There’s no way we can deny

 

Man, PC-31, what a jerk

We need Mr Edison back to work,

But I won’t hold my breath

I’m quoting Macbeth

While considering death

 

Because I’m sure as sure he’ll obscure the viewer

But the Fuhrer can’t hide, hide, hide, hide, hide, so

Burn it to the ground,

Burn it to the ground,

Burn it to the ground with your friends inside

WEIGHT OFF

Never gonna write this song

Even if I do I can guarantee you it’ll come out wrong

 

Buying isn’t worth the price

Selling everything I’ve got to sell for a brand new life

 

Houston we’ve got a problem

The weather could never direct this ship to shore

 

Houston we’ve got a problem

I never could ever get my ish together but nevertheless I’ve got an S on my chest and that’s for you

 

I’ve come to take the weight off, weight off you

Have you come here to take the weight off, weight off me, too?

You know I will take the weight off, weight off you

Have you come here to take the weight off, weight off me, too?

 

Holding out for release

Maybe if I wait long enough I can live in peace

 

Tend to be uncomfortable

Having grown up taking advice from Dr Huxtible

 

The feeling that I’m under,

It’s like thunder from a hundred million miles away

AYE YAI YAI

Sundays falling asunder

Mondays calling a cab

Tuesdays making me feel like

Wednesday is going again to be drab

Aye ya yai yai

Thursdays calling my name again

Fridays falling asleep

Saturday means afternoon delight into

Sunday, when I'll get to keep you

Aye yai yai ya

Saturday love wasn't made for me

Sundays are no good for you

Saturday love wasn't made for me

And Monday through Friday you tell me

Are no good, too

Aye yai yai yai

ILLUSIONS OF LOVE

 

I use your time as my emotional crutch

I never thought I’d be in trouble so much, but I’m

Too hot to touch

Yeah, I’m too hot to touch

 

Well, can’t you see that nothing about me changed

Since we last talked

Except for my illusions

Except for my illusions of love

 

I smoke inside, you make a playlist for me

If I act weird it’s just my anxiety or maybe

you’re just too cool for me

Well, can’t you see that nothing about me changed

Since we last talked

Except for my illusions

Except for my illusions of love

WATERFALL WORLD

Hard Pack Records™, 2020

LONELY AND SURROUNDED (BY UGLINESS)

My sexual prowess continues to wain

And I’m never gonna get compared to Kurt Cobain like I want

 

I used to be hot shit now I’m a stain

Holding up a bank with a gun made of soap in the rain

 

Everything gets boring as you grow old

Fourth of July fireworks just leave me

 

Lonely and surrounded

Lonely and surrounded by ugliness

 

My sense of nostalgia intensifies daily

While the senses that protect me from harm fail me every time

 

My sense of your humor is tepid at best

But I’m sensible enough to be playing that close to the vest

 

Everything gets boring as you grow old

Fourth of July fireworks just leave me

 

Lonely and surrounded

Lonely and surrounded by ugliness

WEIGHT OF THE SUN

Cradle, baby, steady job

And it’s not so bad

Living day to day

 

Groceries in the borrowed Saab

Just a weekend dad

Growing out of shape

 

Even the sun is just a little star

And over the edge is never all that far

So what keeps me from moving to the moon?

 

The weight of the sun

How gravity’s spun

The way I’ve become

Someone’s only one

 

Even when I’ve gone to plaid

Gotta wear it well

Belt and synch that isht

 

Underbelly’s ironclad

A little zinfandel

And I’m a cherry kiss

 

Even the sun is just a little star

And over the edge is never all that far

So what keeps me from moving to the moon?

 

The weight of the sun

How gravity’s spun

The way I’ve become

Someone’s only one

 

Everything is fine, of course

I just get bored, so I fantasize

Jealous of the wild horse

Sometimes I wish I could metamorphosize

THE TIMING'S PREDICTABLE

What can we do 

To get me closer to you

What can we buy

To make me a happier guy

Where can we go

To get me back in the show

What can we say

To get me through today

 

You only love me sometimes

And I’m not that kind of guy

 

I took you to see 

The sky over Joshua Tree

Back in New York

You made me listen to Bjork

In a taxi in Rome

I booked a ticket back home

And when you returned

It seemed like nothing was learned

 

You only love me sometimes

And I’m not that kind of guy

NEW YORK MINUTE

Last night’s makeup

Dealing with a breakup

You and the sun on the Bowery

Don’t let it drip (on your slip)

(Just) sleep off this trip

(And for gods sake) get a grip

Don’t get carried away

 

Sunday’s comedown

Got you stuck in midtown 

I’d laugh if you’d allow me

Try not to flip

Just get home quick

(And for gods sake) get a grip

Or you’ll get carried away

 

Cut off the band from your hand

Take the train back to Grand

Tie yourself to the land

Or get carried away

 

It always happens in a New York Minute

And you never even know your limit

It always happens in a New York Minute

And you never know you’re in it

It always happens in a New York Minute

 

One last pickle back

Open up your dating app

Lie to your shrink in the morning

Just let it rip

Double dip

(And for gods sake) get a grip

Don’t get carried away

 

13 years since 

Leaving Sarah Lawrence

You need a weekend at Storm King

Rent a whip

Grab a scrip

(And for gods sake) get a grip

Or you’ll get carried away

 

Crying on the platform

At 8am after a rainstorm

 

Super friendly Uber rider ultimate form on Friday night during a bad rainstorm 

I wonder Why, why, why do I do it?

Surrender half my life just to get through it

I wonder Why, why, why do I do it?

Surrender half my life just to get through it

I wonder Why, why, why do I do

What I do

What I've done

Why do I run? Why do I run? Why do run?

I've been running for a New York Minute

bottom of page