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